Saints and Soldiers
by Discochrisco
Summary: Soldier: one engaged in military service and especially in the army. an enlisted man or woman. a skilled warrior. Saint: one of God's chosen and usually Christian people. one eminent for piety or virtue... Is there an inbetween?
1. Bumpy Introductions

**Author's Note**: Alright, this is my first fic, I decided to write after finishing NGE for the second time, i just wasn't satisfied with the ending, and then i realized i didn't like the overall angstiness of it, now don't get me wrong I loved the anime, i would just like to share my take of it. One man attempting to do something no one else did in the series, to protect the children.

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**Chapter one : Bumpy Introductions**

Off in the distance fires were burning, black smoke billowing from the torched houses. Heedless of the danger ahead the group moved on, cautiously, moving from tree to tree, from bush to bush, and burnt house to burnt house towards the destroyed city. From around the corner of one of the shelled out buildings the point man could hear a shrill scream interrupted by automatic weapons fire, he couldn't help but close his eyes and offer a small prayer for the woman just mercilessly gunned down. Peeking around the corner he noted several people milling around, some with guns, but most were sobbing women and children. Signaling for the squad to halt and huddle up, he began to explain the situation.

"Alright here's the situation, we have seven hostiles and about twenty five civvies around that corner. Grant, Ashton, and Fuller will move around the opposite side of the building and set up a position for a cross fire on the hostiles. While they are moving Hues and I will cross the street to set up the other side of the crossfire. Understand?" the leader outlined his plan

Grant replied harshly "no sir I don't understand, this is international, beyond our jurisdiction, and anyway if we don't catch the attention of the Czech government, _our_ command will have your stripes!"

"I know, I know but are you gonna be able to live with yourself if you just let those woman and children die?" their leader sighed

"YES! It's none of my concern whether they live or die, we have a mission and this is clearly not part of it, none of your concern either for that matter." Grant argued

"Well I'm making it an order, mission or not we have an obligation as human-beings" the leader went on undeterred by Grant's logic.

"Sir, if that's how you feel I'm going to have to relieve you of your command, you realize that?" Grant spoke as he pulled out his silenced sidearm.

Things began to become fuzzy, fading in and out of focus. A light shone above his eyes, not blinding but just annoying. Finally opening his eyes and grumbling something about "damn light" and "breaking" something or other, he began to look around noticing a small tanned man in a khaki military uniform gently shaking him awake. He looked for rank insignia but saw none. _So he's in this too, same damned nonsense as me_ he thought.

The man held out his hand and began in a slight cockney "hey there, I'm Temuera Morston, heading to Tokyo-3 too are ya?" slowly the groggy man lifted his hand, beginning to smile back "howdy, the names Evan Lanhardt, and yup I got sucked into this Tokyo-3 business as well." A brief pause ensued before Lanhardt asked "you Samoan?"

"Nope, Maori, good guess though, we're pretty much cousin's, same with the Hawaiians."

After a few minutes of pleasant conversation, Temuera paused, as if collecting his thoughts. Lanhardt's smile began to turn into a frown, as Temuera sighed "this is gonna be rough", Lanhardt let the words sink in for a moment then responded "yeah, it sure is. But that's why they called me in, probably the same for you." "Of course it is!" Temuera exclaimed, the smile back on his face and twice as big.

"So when did you get on the plane Mr. Morston?" Lanhardt asked slowly beginning the friendly conversation once again.

"Oh I got on in Hawaii connecting from Australia, come from the south pacific tactical defense forces." Explained Temuera

Lanhardt's eyes widened in amazement "Desert Rat Spec-ops? I didn't think they actually existed, it's a real honor sitting here with you"

"Ack don't kiss ass Lanhardt, I've read your dossier, former IRA, turned Executive Decisions contractor, turned ARC Spec-ops. You're not exactly green bub."

Replied Temuera casually

"Um… uh… thank you sir" stuttered Lanhardt _wow this guy must have freakin' ultra top secret clearance; either that or he's a spy. Naw too military lookin' those damned spies have a distinctly sleazy look, no matter how military they try to be._

"Hey bub, no ranks remember, reassignment upon briefing, and yes of course I know about ARC, I helped create it." Temuera smiled continuing "I know you're a damned good soldier I hand picked you for this assignment, the rest NERV selected, but between you and I, we'll manage."

"Ha I suppose we don't have a choice do we?" scoffed Lanhardt thinking about his new assignment, _black-ops command reassigns me mid-mission, flies me all the way from Colombia, gives me clearance to get past international securities with anything I want except a tank. This is… "Interesting" for lack of a better word._

"Well we still have about four hours till this thing lands I'll give you a rundown on NERV and our new little assignment

**_Approximately Four Hours Later _**

Japanese airways flight number 8411 began to taxi towards the terminal of Tokyo-3 international airport. Captain Misato Katsuragi stood in full dress uniform impatiently tapping her foot as a pair of Section-Two agents flanked her, and willed her foot to break off, or at the very least stop tapping.

_Guh what is taking those guys so long? I've been waiting here for an hour and a half, damn flight, damn getting here early, I was sure they would arrive early, guess not tho…_

"Ma'am" one of the agents interrupted her thoughts "I think they've arrived" he said pointing to the gate that the passengers were debarking from.

"Where I don't see th…" her sentence was interrupted again, but this time not by the agents, but by the small tanned man in the khaki uniform, probably around 5'8" or 5'10" with short, dark, almost wiry hair. and the absolutely most monstrous human-being she had ever seen, standing at more like 8'0" tall in her mind and shoulders as broad as a city bus with light brown hair as long as militarily allowed and wearing a grey and green uniform she didn't recognize, both with duffel bags casually slung over their shoulders.

Lanhardt couldn't keep a grin off of his face as Temuera and himself walked up to the lavender haired captain.

Misato did her best to compose herself as the men walked straight towards her, unconsciously taking a step back as they both stopped in front of her and dropped their bags and stood at-ease.

"Good morning gentleman, I am NERV's operations director captain Misato Katsuragi, welcome to Tokyo-3." _Good job Misato _she thought to herself _you managed to get that out without gawking at the ogre._ She chanced a look up at the man, _well maybe not ogre, not bad lookin, but definitely a giant._

The two men introduced themselves as Temuera Morston and Evan Lanhardt. Once again picking up their duffel bags after saluting.

"If you all will follow us please" Misato began trying to get back on track and not stare at the human mountain in front of her. He wouldn't stop smiling, she wondered why, he probably got this treatment a lot, she supposed it just amused him.

Lanhardt responded smile firmly set in place "after you captain" he motioned forward with one of his hands.

Misato frowned _okay now he's just trying to mess with me, smartass. _"No after you Mr. Lanhardt" she said imposing a little venom in her voice.

Lanhardt frowned and began walking, Temuera quickly falling into step with him. "What did I do" Lanhardt inquired quietly through the corner of his mouth.

"Bah nothing, nothing, just doesn't appear that the captain here is used to dealing with gentlemen" Temuera replied in a slightly smug and much less quiet tone.

_Ha gentleman, I doubt that guy can be gentle with so many… muscles, wow he's freakin built._ Misato argued with her mind as they walked to the sedan they had waiting for them.

After reaching the black sedan one agent moved to the driver side while the other opened the door for the rest to enter the vehicle. Misato leaned in first, making sure to hold her skirt down, and sitting in the rear facing seat, while Temuera and Lanhardt climbed in after her sitting in the normal forward facing seats. The agent closed the door and sat in the front passenger seat.

"So I assume your flight was alright gentlemen?" Misato asked losing the edge in her voice.

"Well he wouldn't know," Temuera pointed to Lanhardt with his thumb "he didn't seem awake for most of it"

"Hey that's not fair Si… Tem you kept borin' me to sleep" he replied with a small chuckle. Temuera glared at him for about five seconds, before finally cracking a smile and chuckling along with him. Misato simply giggled nervously. _For a couple Spec-ops hard asses these guys seem to think a lot is funny, I can't even imagine how long it took 'em to gain each others trust, no time like the present to find out._

"So how long have you all been in the same unit?" she inquired.

"Well we're not really in the same unit, yet anyway" Lanhardt answered still finding something to smile about.

"Oh, well how long have you all known each other, old military buddies I see?" Misato asked, now appearing somewhat interested.

Temuera made a point of pulling up his sleeve and looking at his watch and flatly replied "four hours thirteen minutes…… and 27 seconds."

Misato did her best to once again not gawk, _wow, the quickest friendship ever witnessed, they act like family_. "Wow, you guys sure seemed to hit it off!" _that seems a little convenient to me_.

Before she could interrogate them further Lanhardt asked the first question that Misato hadn't. "So Captain how long have you been in the service? You seem very young to be a captain."

Misato covered her slight blush by answering quickly and with a large smile "well I went to officer's training academy when I was twenty one, I was almost done with college, but it wasn't too hard, I finished fourth in my class, so I've been "in the service" for about five years now." She finished her rambling with a smile. _Bet they never expected a fine young lady like me to spend that much time in the military._

Lanhardt smiled and nodded throughout her rambling, genuinely interested it seemed, Temuera listened only half interested, his mind was focused on other things at the moment.

Before the men could continue their questioning Misato quickly rebutted. "How about you two?"

Lanhardt answered immediately "oh… me… well uh about 11 and a half months now, with military proper." He gently nudged Temuera with his elbow for him to respond after a moment of silence "and me… well hell the military is the only thing I've ever known, I joined my dumb ass up when I was eighteen, so" he did some quick calculating staring at the ceiling of the car and ticking off with fingers. "About twenty five years or so, and don't be so modest Evan tell her how long you've been fighting."

Lanhardt looked at him in confusion, then nodded and sighed looking down at the floor "I suppose I've been fighting now for about eleven or twelve years."

Misato's jaw hit the floor while she still tried to form a sentence until she finally got the words out. "Wait… what… how old are you?!?!" she asked confused

"Twenty four" Lanhardt replied flatly continuing to stare at the floor of the moving vehicle. "I guess I've been fighting perceived evils and righting wrongs in the world since my family di…"

"We're being followed." Temuera interrupted calmly "tell your driver not to panic or lose the tail but head straight for NERV headquarters, doesn't matter if they know where we're goin' just that we get there. "You hear that?" Misato turned around and asked the driver. "Yeah, yeah no problem." He replied in an unsure tone. He continued driving; doing his best not to let the tail know they'd spotted him. The sedan and its occupants continued heading towards NERV headquarters until they arrived at a police roadblock, and what looked like an accident involving a semi and two smaller cars. One of the officers waved the sedan over and walked around to the driver's side and motioned for him to roll down the window.

"Hey looks pretty bad, is anyone hurt, or is an ambulance on the way?" The driver asked in a concerned tone.

"No, no nobody is hurt yet" replied the officer almost amused. "And unfortunately an ambulance isn't on the way." The officer stated as he pulled out his sidearm and fired three consecutive shots into the driver's side. The driver's foot reflexively found the gas peddle, and stamped down hard to get away from the officer. In the process another one of the officers jumped out in front of the sedan to try and take a few shots. But only succeeded in being hit by the sedan as the driver blindly made his way through the blockade. The driver finally released to steering wheel and began clutching at his throat, attempting to stem the tide of blood gushing forth.

Misato laid over the seat and took the wheel doing her best to guide the sedan along the street from her awkward position. The driver slumped over onto the lap of his colleague and began attempting to yell, but the sound only came out as a labored gurgling sound.

"OH CHRIST, he doesn't look good captain!" screamed the unharmed agent, "his vest took one of the rounds, but the other two hit him in the shoulder and the throat!"

"Keep pressure on his throat, and tell him to keep his foot on the gas, continue heading towards NERV captain." Said Temuera in between firing shots aimed at the van now following them from his revolver.

Lanhardt fired half a clip into the front of the van, then emptied the rest of the clip into one of the van's passengers attempting to lean out of the sliding door of the van and fire a sub-machine gun. The man dropped the SMG and pitched forward out of the van before any of his comrades could grab him.

Both vehicles were now moving at high speeds down the relatively empty streets, luckily it was four o'clock in the morning otherwise things would have been trickier. The man finally tumbled out of the van and was immediately sucked under the back right tire, due to the speed of the vehicle the "bump" popped the back end of the van into the air, the driver tried to correct their decent by turning the van to the left, but succeeded in only causing it to pitch sideways and tumble down the street until finally coming to a rest as the sedan sped away.

Finally coming into the more narrow twists and turns of the city as they approached NERV, they were still traveling at much more than a safe speed. Unbeknownst to them a garbage truck began to back up out of an alleyway. When Misato finally saw the back end of the truck she attempted to swerve out of the way. The front right of the sedan was immediately crumpled as it crashed into the garbage truck. The vehicle still further skewed off to the left as it finally began to halt its forward momentum.

Misato screamed in terror as the world around her abruptly turned black, as her conscience began evading her. Her last thought was _damn I screwed up_, before the darkness finally engulfed her.

Lanhardt painfully picked himself up from the ground and began to try and find his comrades, he glanced off to his right and saw Temuera attempting to pick himself up, and one of the section-two agents, he assumed wasn't the one who was shot, trying to also stand. What worried him was that he couldn't locate the lavender haired captain.

He began frantically searching for the captain in the wreckage of the car, only to be greeted by the grisly scene that was once the driver of the vehicle, Lanhardt offered up a small prayer for the soul of the other agent who had passed. _Hopefully he died from the gunshot before he could get crushed in that wreck_ thought Lanhardt. He reached over and shut the agent's eyes with his thumb and forefinger.

He began to walk in a circle around the wreck to see if the captain had been ejected from the car. After about two minutes of desperate searching, he heard a low groan coming from a pile of garbage bags. He ran up to the garbage and began throwing the bags to his side, until finally he saw the captain's red jacket. He excavated the rest of the bags leaving only a pile for her to lie on.

Misato began to stir, trying to sit up, but finding it impossible with the gentle pressure on her shoulders. She opened her eyes and gasped as she saw a shining figure above her, looking as if he had a ring of light around his head and shining golden wings. "Are you an angel?" she choked out barely audible. "Don't try to sit up captain, you were just flung twenty feet from the car, you might have a concussion." Lanhardt told her while keeping her pinned down by her shoulders. "Mi-Misato." Groaned Misato as Lanhardt began checking her for obvious injuries. "What?" Lanhardt exclaimed confused by what Misato had said. "You keep calling me captain, just call me Misato." She said with a slight delirious smile

"Ok Misato, it's good you remember your name. Do you know where we are or why we're here?" Lanhardt asked releasing his grip on her shoulders and helping her sit up.

"We're about two blocks from NERV headquarters we need to get there! Before those guys come back!" she said her memory fully returning to her. Standing up and dusting herself off, she began walking towards the other survivors of the car wreck with the help of Lanhardt, when she heard the screeching of tires. She turned and saw another grey van speed up to end of the street before swerving to the left to leave its sliding door towards the group.

Before the van door could open all the way Lanhardt, Misato, Temuera, and the remaining section-two agent were unloading the remaining rounds in their firearms into it. The door slid all the way open and three bodies fell out, all three looked to be poised and ready to open fire on them as soon as the door was open. Temuera ran inhumanly fast up to the van, planting the barrel of his revolver against the temple of the driver's head before he could pull out his own weapon or speed away.

Lanhardt expelled the spent magazine from his Walther P-99 and slid a full one in with practiced ease. "Stay here and cover our backs Misato." Lanhardt ordered as he signaled for the section-two agent to advance with him. Misato turned away from the van to watch the other side of the street with her pistol at the ready.

Lanhardt and the agent slowly stalked towards the bodies of the three men who had fallen out the side door of the van.

Under his ski mask the man smiled as he could hear the two NERV employees over top of him. As soon as he thought they wouldn't be able to react to a surprise attack, he set his plan in motion. Quickly he raised his Micro-Uzi and jammed the trigger down swinging it back and forth, holding it until it began clicking as the hammer attempted to fall on an empty chamber.

Misato heard the staccato of automatic fire from behind her, she quickly turned around whipping her pistol in position to find a target, she saw one of the men in ski masks holding his weapon up, the agent holding his midsection on the ground, and Lanhardt staring down the barrel of the SMG. She aimed her pistol at the man on the ground; she began to squeeze the trigger as her vision blurred from turning too quickly, and the possible concussion from the wreck.

Two more shots sounded out along the street as Misato double tapped the trigger. She blinked rapidly to try and clear away the bleariness in her eyes. She gasped as she saw who her weapon was pointing at… Lanhardt.

If he had been hit he didn't act like it as his leg reared back and he boot kicked the attacker that was on the ground in the face. Misato heard a sickly wet crunch even from her position twenty feet away from both of them.

Lanhardt kneeled down and placed two fingers on the man's neck, feeling a steady pulse; he picked the man up and threw him in the back of the van. "Misato help him." Lanhardt said as he pointed towards the agent rolling around on the ground. Temuera leaned back and pistol whipped the driver at the base of his neck, throwing him in the back of the van also. He ran around to the sliding door of the van and began searching the deceased men on the ground.

Lanhardt glanced back at Misato who was still frozen in place, and to the agent who was beginning to thrash around less. He ran over to the agent and began to search for the wound. "Where were you hit?" he asked the agent in a calm tone. "Oh god it hurts!!! My stomach… ARGH!" the agent tried to say between grunts and sobs.

Lanhardt let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding, _oh thank god, if we get him some medical attention soon he'll be fine_ Lanhardt's mind told him. "Your gonna be alright, I know it hurts but your gonna be okay." Lanhardt told the agent as he stripped away the clothing around the wound. "What's your name buddy?" Lanhardt asked in a friendly voice. "Ibuki… Naota Ibuki." He responded as he tried to keep himself from hyperventilating. "Alright Ibuki, I'm gonna have to pick you up then put you in the back of the van, it's gonna hurt like hell but I'll try to make it as quick as I can, bite down on this." Lanhardt stuffed one of the young man's rolled up sleeves into his mouth, so he wouldn't scream.

Temuera finished looking for some form of identification on the three men, he turned and looked to where Lanhardt had begun to pick the young agent up, and then to Misato who was still holding her pistol in a firing position, mouth wide open, and staring forward. He ran over to her gently placing his hand on the top of her pistol and pushing it downwards "Captain what's wrong?" he asked. "I-I-I… I shot him." She said in a barely audible squeak.

"Yeah, you never killed anyone before?" Temuera asked now confused.

"No I didn't shoot them, I think I hit Lanhardt." Misato finished as she finally began to inch towards the van with the help of Temuera.

"Well if you hit him he isn't acting like it now is he?" Temuera assured her as he pointed towards Lanhardt helping the agent into the back of the van.

"But I pulled the trigger and when I got a good look I was aiming at him." Misato said in a very distraught and confused tone.

The group got the van loaded up with the survivors and the two "prisoners".

"Misato do you have a phone or a radio?" Lanhardt asked, trying to get her back in reality.

"Huh? Oh yeah." She responded lamely, pulling out her phone at the same time. Lanhardt took the phone from her, realizing nothing would get done by her; she was in shock about something. "What's the number to NERV's medical branch Misato…? Misato?"

"Sorry sorry, hit speed dial 2." She responded trying to seem cheery again. Lanhardt pushed the button, waiting a few moments while the phone rang.

"Misato what do you need now?!?!" came the reply from a rather grouchy sounding woman.

"Umm sorry ma'am this isn't Captain Katsuragi, this is Evan Lanhardt new transfer to NERV, upon our arrival we were followed and ambushed by assailants of an unknown source and number. We have two seriously wounded, including myself and one KIA; recommend you dispatch two medical teams and supporting security units. We also have two prisoners captured from the attacking group." He finished in a "matter-of-factly" way.

"Oh god, what injuries have you all sustained?" the woman asked in a hurried tone, it sounded like she was running on Lanhardt's end of the phone.

"one of your agents has taken a nine-millimeter round to the stomach, I have a total of what feels like six entry wounds and two exit points, two entries on my right thigh, one entry and exit on my right side, two entries and one exit in my right arm, and one entry on my right shoulder blade. Captain Katsuragi may have suffered a mild concussion as well." Lanhardt described, his voice betraying no emotion whatsoever.

"HOLY SHIT!!! Do you all have an ETA?" The woman screamed and sounding as if she was moving even faster through the receiver of the phone.

Misato gasped and covered her face as Lanhardt description of his injuries sunk in, _Oh my god I did shoot him, oh lord I screwed up._ Her mind berated her as tears began forming in her eyes.

"Tem what's our ETA?" Lanhardt inquired

"One minute… Thirty seconds if they had the gate open" Temuera said swerving the van slightly as a cat ran across the street.

Lanhardt conveyed the ETA over the phone to the doctor. "See ya when we get there doctor." Lanhardt ended the conversation by hanging up the phone. He looked over to where Misato was sitting with her head in her hands, who he could hear quietly sobbing. He scooted over to where she was sitting, and pulled her hands away from her face. She looked up, eyes red and swollen. He put on his most reassuring smile. "Hey, don't worry about it ok, you missed no big deal, you have a concussion I'm amazed you're not unconscious." He said looking right into her eyes as he patted her back.

"You're not mad? Please be mad, I shot you!" she sniffled angrily.

"Look we were just put in an extraordinary circumstance and came out on top, I can't complain, by all rights I should be dead from the shots that guy took at us." He explained by pointing at the man whose face he kicked in only minutes before. "Me being angry at you is useless, you didn't mean to. Now drop it." He finished with a slight edge in his voice.

"Aren't you in pain, I mean six bullet wounds. You should have passed out from pain by now. And why aren't you bleeding?" She gasped. Trying to move around and examine all of his injuries.

"Like you wouldn't believe, but believe it or not this isn't the first time I've been shot. Luckily they didn't hit any vitals, I'll have time to be in pain later, right now I'm focused on getting you and Ibuki home." He explained, sounding more tired and tired after each word. He looked over at her before smiling again.

"We're here everybody unload" Temuera said as he jerked the van to a stop. He climbed out and opened the back door; Lanhardt got out first then turned and helped Misato out of the van. Temuera reached in and unceremoniously tore the prisoners from the back of the van. The Medical teams immediately ran up and began attempting to put Lanhardt on a stretcher. "No, not me, help him you idiots." He said swatting various gloved hands and stethoscopes away before pointing into the back of the van towards Naota Ibuki.

The Medics looked in and immediately two jumped into the back of the van to help pull him out, a stretcher waiting on the outside. Misato saw her blonde friend and immediately walked up to her.

"Morning Ritsu, how's it goin?" Misato asked in mock happiness.

"Misato there are people actually injured here, I need to get them into triage then actually operate, so if you don't mind I'm going to ignore you now." Ritsuko said as she walked past her to the waiting men, the first was already on the stretcher while the other was still fighting with the medics.

"Look, I don't care how injured I am, you're gonna make sure everyone else is ok first." Lanhardt said shrugging off even more latex gloved hands and walking to Ibuki's side.

"You gonna be alright kid?" Lanhardt asked Ibuki, leaning down so he could actually speak to him. Lanhardt hadn't realized how young he was until now, _the kid is younger than I am, who would get this kid into this shit when he should be in college, Ha listen to yourself you hypocrite._ He thought as Ibuki was wheeled away.

"I'll be fine sir, thank you." Ibuki said through gritted teeth before he was finally out of sight.

"Lanhardt get on the stretcher now." Temuera said pointing to the stretcher. "You're the most injured, as soon as they're done checkin you out THEN they can check out the Captain ok?"

"Alright… sorry sir, I was just worried." Lanhardt replied as he climbed onto the stretcher to lie down.

"Alright let's get him to operating suite 13, he doesn't seem to have lost much blood, and the rounds have missed all vitals, I count six entry wounds and two exit wounds, so we'll need to remove four slugs." Ritsuko said as she and three medics began to push the stretcher towards the medical wing and began removing his uniform to better see the wounds.

"The wounds have already clotted over?!?" Ritsuko exclaimed looking at the eight closed wounds on the giant man.

_**Approximately two and a half hours later**_

Lanhardt stood watching the operating theater that the young Ibuki's operation was proceeding in. He had just gotten out himself about an hour earlier. The operation on himself was fairly simple, if you consider removing four nine millimeter slugs from a human body simple. As soon as he had been patched up, Doctor Akagi moved in to the next operating room to help out with Ibuki's recovery. Unfortunately the bullet had pierced directly into his stomach, tearing it completely to shreds. They would have to flash-clone him a new one, _you'll get used to it Ibuki, it won't be easy but you will._ Lanhardt thought as he reflected upon himself.

His musings were interrupted as he heard a slight shuffling behind him; he turned around quickly but found out that the right side of his body still didn't want to work properly, and caused him pain when he turned that way. As soon as he got around he saw a young woman in the standard tan and red NERV uniform, he saw the bars on her collar and immediately stood ramrod straight and saluted.

She appeared confused for a moment before walking up and pulling his injured arm, still in a sling, out of the salute.

"You don't have to do that here, I'm off duty." She said in a small voice.

"sorry ma'am, I uh, still just a little frazzled." Lanhardt replied slightly confused.

She walked up to the window and just began watching the operation, refusing to move a centimeter. Lanhardt limped over and just stood next to her.

After about fifteen minutes of standing Lanhardt decided to break the silence.

"Forgive me for asking ma'am but why are you here?" Lanhardt asked happy to hear noise again, he hated the quiet.

She turned towards him, craning her neck back so she could look up at his face. He could tell she was about to cry, her eyes were barely containing the torrent of tears.

"He's my brother, I tried to get off duty when I heard he had been hurt, but I couldn't. I had hoped he would be alright but now I see all this." She said motioning towards the operating theater.

"I'm sorry ma'am, it's my fault. I got sloppy out there and he got shot for it." Lanhardt tried to explain while turning away from her. "I should probably leave you alone, I'm sorry again." He said while beginning to limp towards the door. He was stopped as he felt two small hands grip his forearm.

"No, please stay, I read Captain Katsuragi's report. You were very brave out there; if it weren't for you and Sergeant Morston none of them would have come back alive. I'm just sorry your first day in Tokyo-3 was so horrible." She tried to smile

He turned and smiled "Alright but I think I need to be debriefed after the incident Ma'am."

"You can call me Maya. Sergeant Morston is already being debriefed for the both of you, and you've been given your new assignment but you'll have to pick that up from the Sergeant." She said forcing some cheerfulness into her voice. "So how does he look?" she added in a slightly grim tone.

Lanhardt looked at the floor and began describing what he had seen during the operation. "The round tore up his insides pretty good, I'm pretty sure his stomach is gone, more than likely have to flash-clone a new one, other than that he's fine." He concluded trying not to look her in the eye.

"What do you mean flash-clone?" Maya asked upset and confused at his explanation.

"They take a sample of the tissue and grow a new one in a test-tube thing." He said while pointing over to some large test tubes that had iced over.

"I didn't know we had stuff like that." Maya exclaimed as she got closer to the window gazing at the test-tubes.

"Yeah, it's not all fun and games; it's a combination of organic and synthetic materials attempting to precisely copy the organ or tissue. Because of the synthetic materials his immune system will try to fight it and expel the "invader" until it accepts it as a part of his body, that'll take probably about a month. He'll be fed directly through an I.V. and be subjected to uncontrolled vomiting; even afterwards he'll still have trouble for a couple of months with keeping food down." Lanhardt finished his doctor like explanation on the pro's and cons of flash-cloning.

"How do you know all that, I mean this is a brand new technology that I've never heard of and you seem to know everything about it? I mean I know of something similar but not on the scale that you're talking about." Maya exclaimed.

Lanhardt lifted his shirt exposing his muscled abdomen, which had scar tissue all over it. He ran a finger along the largest scar where his stomach would be. "Back about five years ago in 2009 I was in former Egypt; I was training the local militia to become an actual military occupation force. Insurgents had been attacking for two years by then; when I got there it wasn't safe to walk down the street. On a routine patrol an I.E.D. went off. Shredded my stomach and killed the five other men I was with. The German government was involved in the operation and was experimenting with some new medical technology. I guess they perfected it on me." Lanhardt laughed as he began tucking his shirt back in.

"Wow, that's incredible. I didn't think that was safe for human instrumentation." She said in awe.

"It wasn't, they hadn't perfected it as we have and it's a miracle he's alive today." Ritsuko said to gain the attention of the two in the observation room.

"HA, a miracle I'm alive today. You have no idea how right you are doctor." Lanhardt laughed as she entered the room.

"Oh I have a pretty good idea. I'm scheduling you for a full physical exam after you get your new uniform, rank, and billeting assignment." Ritsuko responded rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"How is Naota? He's gonna be ok right" Maya asked pleadingly as her tears began reforming in the corners of her eyes.

"He'll be fine Maya; he seems to be accepting the new organ rather well. The Nausea should last only about two weeks. But you should be able to talk to him in a couple of days while he recovers." Ritsuko said while trying to clean her glasses, but was interrupted by a joyful Maya latching onto her in a bear hug.

"THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!" she yelled dancing around with Ritsuko in her arms. Lanhardt began to laugh before he was tackled by the small woman that was Maya. "And thank you for saving my little brother!!!! Thank you so much!!!" Maya yelled while doing her best to wrap her arms entirely around Lanhardt, and failing.

Lanhardt stood up with the small woman still latched to him while continuing to laugh. The door to the observation room opened and Misato and Temuera stepped in.

Misato stopped mid-stride and looked at the scene. Ritsuko was trying to pick herself up off the ground after being flung by Maya before she "Attacked" Lanhardt, and then Lanhardt standing there laughing with Maya still trying to wrap her arms around his torso, which was still too large.

"Wow, already on the prowl Evan?" Temuera asked with a large grin on his face as he walked towards Lanhardt.

"Uh, ha-ha… not quite Sergeant." Lanhardt Stuttered as he began patting Maya on the back and telling her "your welcome."

"Well, we have your uniform and everything here Lanhardt." Misato said while trying not to sound jealous of the small technician clinging to the man she had just designated as her new crush.

"Evan" Lanhardt responded.

"What" Misato asked in confusion.

"Call me Evan, you asked me to call you Misato and not captain. So I'm asking you to call me Evan." He replied with a grin

"Alright" She said and walked up to him to hand him the new uniform as well as his assignments, rank insignia, and introduction to NERV booklet all in a manila folder.

"Well now that you've got your things follow me please." Ritsuko said while walking out the door. Temuera was the first to respond.

"Sorry doctor, Lanhardt and I have to meet up with the rest of the unit, we're getting a mission briefing from the Sub-Commander and the Captain here." Temuera said in an amused tone. "You'll just have to find some other time to experiment on him."

Ritsuko turned around with a dumbfounded look on her face before Misato grabbed Lanhardt by the arm and dragged him towards the briefing.

They walked into the briefing where four other individuals were standing. One was obviously the Sub-Commander of the NERV facility. While the other three were members of various other uniforms. There was a red haired woman in a pale green uniform, an older looking Asian man in a blue and grey uniform, and finally a young man with a Mohawk in the obviously American combat fatigues. Everyone in the room milled around, refusing to talk to one another, until the Sub-Commander cleared his throat gathering everyone's attention.

"Welcome to NERV ladies and gentlemen, you all have been called here from various different nations in the U.N. from special forces units. You are here to protect mankinds only form of defense from a new threat." The Sub-Commander said in a bored tone while showing a slide of a giant purple armored machine. "Fifteen years ago second impact opened our eyes to a new threat to humanity, what was explained as a meteor impact was in actuality a being of unknown origins self-destructing on the continent of Antarctica." This time a picture appeared that looked like a shadow of the fighting machine. "We believe that these life forms have decided to begin a new attack to initiate a third impact, for obvious reasons we cannot allow that to happen. We don't know at what capacity these creatures will attack, whether they will come in numbers or one at a time. Either way we are preparing all contingencies of their possible attack." The Sub-Commander set down the remote to the projector and let the information sink in for a bit, before he walked towards the group.

"You all will be a special security detail known as the Special Armament International Tactical Squad, or the SAINTS for short." The Sub-commander droned on. "At this point I'll let you all introduce yourselves to each other; Doctor Akagi will give you your weapon assignments as well as clearance to access the more advanced and some experimental weapons." He finished as he began walking out of the room.

Temuera was the first to step forward and speak. "I'm Sergeant Morston C.O. of this unit; this is my second in command Corporal Lanhardt, my area of expertise is Tactical decisions as well as being able to pilot damned near anything with controls. Lanhardt's area of expertise is close-combat, hand-to-hand combat, and covert operations, as well as being an expert marksman." Temuera concluded his introductions, Lanhardt raising his eyebrow slightly as well as Misato. Everyone stood around for a moment longer waiting for one another to introduce themselves, but none willing to do so freely, until the red-haired woman stepped forward.

"My name is Corporal Fayina Molov, expert in sniping and counter-sniping tactics. You "gentlemen" can call me Faye." The read head told the group in a Russian accent. She then saluted and leaned against a wall. The older Asian man then stood and saluted.

"I am Corporal Shogo Kawada, formerly of the JSSDF. My expertise is in demolitions and heavy weapons; if you want something destroyed then I can do it." Shogo introduced himself in a short, brisk, military voice.

Finally the American stood up and began grinning intently at Misato. "The name's Private Avery T. Plunkett, ya'll can call me Cowboy. My expertise is in general ass-kicking tactics." He ran a hand through his Mohawk before throwing up a mock salute.

Temuera stepped up and locked eyes with Private Plunkett. "We're not gonna have any problems are we Private?" Temuera asked in an icy tone.

Plunkett immediately dropped into a proper military stance before replying. "No Sergeant, I apologize if I seemed disrespectful." Plunkett replied, his voice betraying no emotion.

**Author's Note**: Please leave a review with as much content as you can, I really do appreciate the criticism and reviews will help motivate me to continue this story.


	2. Insight of a Soldier

**Author's Note**: Alrighty second chapter up and ready. I was a little disappointed with the first chapter's reviews, not with the reviews themselves i greatly appreciate them but the fact that i got about 130 hits with only two reviews, which leads me to believe after glancing through it people just found another story to read haha. So Wildcard-JT and Aidanpryde001 get a special place in my hall of heroes. To Wildcard-JT, the reason for everyones ranks being so low is the fact that NERV is not an actual military organization, but a government funded paramilitary group. The heads of the organization are all scientists with the exception of Misato which in my story she has not seen any actual combat although she is still a badass. So it seemed natural that the scientists would fail to grasp military ranks and such, although this will be addressed in later chapters by a slight push from the U.N. This chapter has no real action to speak of but provides more insight into the characters. I also realized that some of the main characters such as Shinji and Rei haven't made an appearance and that may have turned people off to the story, but rest assured they have a very large role to play.

**Chapter 2 : Insight of a Soldier**

_**Approximately 12 days later**_

"Strip" was the only word that left Doctor Ritsuko Akagi, lead scientist of Project E's mouth to the errant Corporal who had evaded her for the past twelve days. Many things had taken place since the attempted assassination of the leadership of the SAINTS. The third child, pilot of Unit-01 had arrived in time to sortie the fighting machine and defeat the third angel in combat. The SAINTS had been on the bridge to defend it as best they could; lately Ritsuko had been thinking a five man squad was idiotic in defense against 60 story tall monsters, but at least it gave her people willing (if not ordered) to test some of the new experimental weapons her department was working on.

"Uh, Ma'am it's a little cold in here." Corporal Lanhardt said sheepishly, while trying to warm himself up by blowing into his hands and rubbing his arms.

The doctor was interrupted from her musings by the comment; she glanced over at the Corporal and looked him up and down. "All of it." She responded in an icy tone.

"I think it just got colder." Lanhardt whispered to himself. He looked down at the briefs he was wearing, then back up to the Doctor, shrugging mentally he reached down and removed his last line of defense from the icy chill that was the Doctor's gaze.

"You can sit down on the table here." Ritsuko said while walking towards him with a stethoscope. Lanhardt complied and gingerly sat upon the table, doing his best to cover himself with his hands. Ritsuko then began her examination of the Corporal.

"AHH COLD!" Lanhardt Squawked as the chilly metal of the stethoscope met his back.

"Ya know, for a guy who took six bullets and didn't whine, complain, yell, or even cry, you are really acting like a baby." Ritsuko Exclaimed clearly annoyed. She pulled back the stethoscope and rubbed it between her hands to warm it up before returning it to his back.

"There, is that better Corporal?" She said in a mock motherly voice. Lanhardt shifted around on the exam table uncomfortably.

"Actually yes, thank you Doctor." Lanhardt tried to look over his shoulder at her to thank her.

"Let me ask you a few questions. Did you know that your blood congeals exponentially faster than a normal person?" Ritsuko questioned, seeming slightly interested.

"Um, yes?" Lanhardt answered confusedly.

"Did you also know that your body heals equally as fast in comparison to anyone else?" she continued her line of questioning.

"Yeah, I never thought anything of it really." Lanhardt responded, looking forward to ignore her wandering eyes.

"And none of this ever seemed strange to you? I've read what's not classified of your combat record and there are almost a dozen injuries that should have killed you." Ritsuko asked stopping her exam and walking around to face him.

"Uh no, it never seemed strange, it seemed natural in a way. I guess the best way to explain it is that I've known god has always been there for me, every time I was hurt, or in a life threatening situation, I knew I was gonna die. But either way I always prayed, and god has always granted my prayers." Lanhardt said with the utmost confidence.

Ritsuko responded only by laughing, until she looked directly into Lanhardt's eyes. "Do you honestly believe that?" Ritsuko asked switching back to her neutral tone.

"Yes." He replied in the most sincere tone imaginable. Ritsuko huffed and began continuing her exam on Lanhardt.

"Well unfortunately all of us can't survive through the favor of god." Ritsuko Deadpanned. While glancing over the scars on Lanhardt's body. _My god, he's seen more combat than most of the people working here combined._ Ritsuko thought as she unconsciously ran a hand across some of the scars.

"That's not true Doctor, you only have to trust and believe; if you have no faith in the Lord then he can have no faith in You. How can he help you if you don't accept him?" Lanhardt preached over his shoulder, feeling her wandering hands on his lower back had gained his attention.

"I thought god loved all of his creations." The Doctor retorted snidely. "You're right Ma'am, he does love all of us, but love and faith are two different things." Lanhardt responded in a pitying voice

"Well it seems to have worked well for you; I might end up giving it a try sometime." She responded in awe.

_**Approximately three hours later**_

Ritsuko had poked, prodded, scratched, sampled, examined, cut, stabbed, injected, Drawn blood, had him run for miles and miles on a treadmill, given various MRI's, genetic tests, and cat scans to understand how his body worked. All the test's had lead to the same conclusion, he was human.

Granted only 89 of his body was still organic, other than that he was fundamentally the same as everyone else. All answers pointed to something else, and she began pondering what he had said. _If you have no faith in the Lord, then he can have no faith in you._ His words had repeated in her head many times in the past few hours.

Her reverie was interrupted as Misato burst through her office door. Misato walked in and sat down in the empty chair directly across from Ritsuko.

"So how did the tests go Ritsu?" Misato asked in her usual cheerful demeanor while leaning back in the chair and running her fingers through her long, purple, hair.

"Well I guess they went as well as can be expected, six foot ten inches tall, that's two hundred and eight centimeters. weight, 118 kilorgams with a seven percent body fat percentage.nothing is wrong with your precious Corporal. He's pretty much the paragon of physical fitness." Ritsuko replied teasingly before continuing. "He does have many, many old injuries, but other than that he's fine.

"Old injuries like what?" Misato asked finding it easy to talk about her favorite subject as of late.

"Well to point out some of the more interesting ones, a metal plate in his head, four metal ribs, and the radius in his left arm has metallic reinforcements. As well as having the first ever Flash-Cloned stomach and liver." Ritsuko finished ticking of a minor amount of artificial replacements on her hand.

Misato could only blink in surprise and mutter "Wow" before continuing to blink.

"Well we're all goin to the bar tonight you wanna come?" Misato asked instantly getting over her silent awe at the grisly description.

"No I can't, maybe tomorrow night though. I still have to fill out the paper work explaining why an exam was done on the corporal, as well as compiling a lot of the data on him; there are still a few tests that the results need to come back for." Ritsuko said clearly disappointed. "and don't feel the need to drink my share tonight." She concluded with a slight smirk.

"Alright, alright I'll try, but no promises." Misato giggled in reply. "It's been awhile since I've been out now that Shinji is livin with me; I feel kinda bad goin out tonight." Misato said in a slightly depressed way.

"Well, you WERE the one who volunteered to take him in, don't tell me your thinking of backing out now?" Ritsuko scoffed at Misato. _I have never seen anyone change moods so quickly._ Ritsuko thought quietly. "Well you should probably be on your way to get plastered now shouldn't you?" Ritsuko said looking at her watch. "Say hi to everyone and tell Lanhardt I'm sorry for putting him through all that."

"No problem Ritsu, don't work too hard. Try not to feel too bad about not getting to spend time with Lanhardt outside the lab." Misato said quickly running out the room.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT???" Ritsuko shouted at the retreating form of Misato.

Misato poked her head back into the door and replied. "Oh, I think you know what I mean." And stuck her tongue out at her friend "the good doctor" and retreated once again.

_I wasn't trying anything…yet._ Ritsuko's mind yelled in response to her friend pointing out her subtleties.

_**Approximately 30 minutes later**_

By the time Misato had arrived at the bar the SAINTS were already into their third round. Kawada was in the corner of a booth smiling slightly, while Temuera and Faye sat quietly talking to each other over their drinks. Plunkett was in another corner talking to two heavily made-up women. The bar was filled mainly by NERV employees, security units, technicians, engineers, ETC. some still in uniform others not.

As soon as Misato entered the bar she scanned the room looking for Lanhardt. She spotted him as he waved at her and stood up walking over to her.

"Hey Misato" he looked at his watch before continuing "a little late aren't ya?" he asked teasingly.

"was seein if Maya or Ritsuko were gonna make it." Misato explained to Lanhardt.

"Oh yeah where are they?" Lanhardt asked his smile never leaving his face.

"Ritsuko was busy with some tests, and Maya is on night shift helping her, Couple of nerds." Misato said spitting out the word nerds in mock anger.

"Hahaha, I suppose they are, what'll ya have then?" Lanhardt asked while leading her to a table.

"Yebisu please." Misato immediately responded, unconsciously licking her lips at the thought of the wonderful drink.

Lanhardt looked over at the bar and yelled something in Irish, and seconds later a few beers were brought over to them as well as a few shots of some dark colored liquor.

"What's that?" Asked Misato pointing to the dark liquid. She picked up a shot glass of the liquid eyeing it cautiously.

"Jager-Miester." Lanhardt said with a big smile on his face, before he threw back a shot of the liquor. Misato shrugged and downed a shot for herself.

"So what's been goin on with you lately at work?" Misato asked after the shot and her second beer.

"HA! Well on Tuesday we ran an insurgency scenario against the rest of the security units in H.Q." Lanhardt said

Misato grimaced at that thought. "How bad did we do?" She asked not wanting to hear the answer.

"Our objective was achieved within twenty three minutes of the execution of the exercise. NERV's standard security suffered a 93 casualty rate, while the SAINTS suffered a 40 casualty rate." Lanhardt Described trying to keep details to a minimum.

"How many men were involved in the operation?" Misato asked

"185, including the SAINTS. Kawada got most of them with an I.R. strobe that would imitate a block of C-6 explosive that he set up in what was designated as the armory of the training grounds.

"So who all did the SAINTS lose?" Misato asked glumly.

"Kawada managed to catch himself in the "Bomb", while the security units got Plunkett; he was tryin to pull some guts and glory bullshit maneuver. Obviously didn't work." Lanhardt responded over the brim of his glass of beer. "So when Monday comes around the SAINTS are in charge of training all of the security units, including section-two."

"Wow, who's in charge of all of this, I feel bad for whoever has to deal with that." Misato scoffed. Lanhardt set his glass down and began smiling at her. "What?" Misato asked in confusion.

"Ritsuko told me not to bother placing the memo on your desk; she said you'd never check it. And I even took the time to make a place for it on your desk that you'd notice." Lanhardt finished while chuckling.

"You mean I-" Misato began, but Lanhardt interrupted her. "Operations Director Captain Misato Katsuragi will be in charge of the mandatory re-training of all NERV security personnel." Misato's jaw simply dropped. "I'm gonna need some more drinks." She mumbled under her breath, but Lanhardt still heard waving towards the bartender for more drinks.

"It's really a formality; you won't even have to worry about much. The SAINTS will take care of assigning instructors as well as the exercises and training." Misato sighed in relief. "You'll only have to worry about the paperwork." Lanhardt concluded.

"NNNOOOOOO!!!!! I HATE PAPER WORK, HOW COULD THEY DO THIS TO ME?" Misato screamed while tugging at her hair. Lanhardt looked over at the bartender and said in Irish. "You'd better go ahead and double that."

_**Approximately four hours later**_

After countless more rounds of beer and shots of various liquors Misato and Lanhardt were smashed to say the least. In Lanhardt's mind the most interesting thing was watching Misato go through several different stages of inebriation, there was angry drunk Misato which had shown itself earlier in the night after she heard about the new mountain of paperwork that was soon to appear on her desk. She had even taken a sloppy swing at Lanhardt for being the messenger, Lanhardt simply laughed it off. Then there was sorry drunken Misato, she had apologized for any and every little thing that she thought of as a slight against others, granted many of the spilled drinks deserved it. Then there was seductive drunk Misato, this one was by far the funniest in Lanhardt's mind, as she used every opportunity to touch him, or do any little thing that seemed cute, but ended up just acting more drunk, even going so far as to use a couple cheesy pick up lines on Lanhardt. And then karaoke drunken Misato emerged, Lanhardt had to admit she knew quite a few songs, but she refused to admit when she didn't know one and just made words up for it.

As it was Misato was on her second bout of seductive mode. Lanhardt looked at his watch and realized what time it was. Misato was just walking back from the bathroom; several men and women were behind her pointing and laughing.

"Uh Misato it's getting pretty late, we probably should head out." Lanhardt said with his eyebrow raised at the people behind her.

"Alright you wanna take a cab?" Misato asked doing her best not to slur the words together.

"How far away do you live?" Lanhardt asked. Beginning to walk towards the door.

"Oh about six blocks or so." Misato responded walking unsteadily towards the door.

"Naw, I'll walk you home." Lanhardt said while opening the door for her.

_SCORE!!! _Misato's mind yelled as she walked out of the bar. As Misato passed Lanhardt finally realized what the people in the bar were laughing at. He leaned over Misato's shoulder ready to say something. Misato felt warm breath on her neck and ear and shivered slightly, suddenly feeling tingly.

"Uh Misato." Lanhardt whispered unsure about how to continue what he was about to say.

Misato spun around and placed her hands on his chest, looking up into his eyes, waiting for what he was about to ask. "Yes Evan?" Misato asked.

"I think uh… well, you kinda tucked your skirt into your underwear, and I don't think it would be a very good idea to walk that way for six blocks." He finished grimacing slightly. He looked down and saw that Misato had turned bright red and began readjusting her "Wardrobe Malfunction."

"Sorry, didn't want to embarrass you." Lanhardt said sheepishly looking at the ground and rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's alright I would have been more embarrassed if I would have found out by myself at home, and realized no one told me." Misato said while seductive drunk Misato took over again as she grabbed Lanhardt's arm and began walking towards her apartment. Every few steps Misato would attempt to snuggle closer to Lanhardt. Lanhardt only chuckled as he began humming to himself, and sometimes whispering a few lyrics to the song on his mind. "And be a simple kind of man, be something you love and understand…" Lanhardt sang in a whisper before trailing off and humming again.

"What's that Evan?" Misato asked looking up at him.

"Oh nothing just hummin somethin to myself." Lanhardt answered with a smile. They continued walking for another two blocks in silence.

"Sing it for me? Please?" Misato said while trying to place her head on his shoulder, but just ended up snuggling against the side of his arm. Lanhardt looked around trying to find some way to escape, finding nothing he said the first thing that came to mind.

"I uh, don't know all the words, and besides I'm a terrible singer." Lanhardt said satisfied with his little white lie.

"So, if you can't remember all the words just make em up. And sing it anyway I wanna hear it." Misato responded looking up at Lanhardt and giggling slightly.

_Damn she caught me_. He thought, then sighed and began.

"Mama told me when I was young  
Come sit beside me, my only son  
and listen closely to what I say.  
And if you do this  
it will help you some sunny day.  
Take your time... Don't live too fast,  
Troubles will come and they will pass.  
Go find the woman and you'll find love,  
and don't forget son,  
there is someone up above."

Lanhardt had begun with a quaky start, but had quickly gotten into the song after the first few words.

"And be a simple kind of man.  
Be something you love and understand.  
Be a simple kind of man.  
Won't you do this for me son,  
if you can?  
Forget your lust for the rich man's gold  
all that you need is in your soul,  
and you can do this if you try.  
All that I want for you my son,  
Is to be satisfied."

After the first chorus Misato noticed that he had begun singing more passionately, and he had lied about being a terrible singer.

"And be a simple kind of man.  
Be something you love and understand.  
Be a simple kind of man.  
Won't you do this for me son,  
if you can?

Boy, don't you worry... you'll find yourself.  
Follow you heart and nothing else.  
And you can do this if you try.  
All I want for you my son,  
Is to be satisfied."

As Lanhardt began the last chorus he finally choked and stopped. Misato looked up to see why he had stopped, and paused when she saw a slight glistening coming from the corner of his eye.

"What's wrong?" Misato asked immediately stopping and grabbing his large hand with both of her hands.

"Nothing, nothing." Lanhardt said while continuing to walk Misato still holding his hand. "This, is just the happiest I've been in awhile. That song just kinda sent me over the edge I suppose." Lanhardt said with a sad smile on his face.

"Why are you so happy? I mean is being here really that different from where you were." Misato asked.

"Imagine having the most loving family, and a big one, and then one day that's taken from you. Now what do you do? You're all alone in the big world now, what do you do?" Lanhardt said losing the smile for a moment and only looking sad, but just as quickly as the smile disappeared, it returned. "Now I come here, and I feel like I belong again. Everywhere I've been before was to fight a war against bad people, and right now I don't have to."

"And why did the song send you over the edge." Misato asked cautiously and pulling Evan to continue walking.

"Everyday I can remember being around my mom, she sang that song to me, I mean literally every time she was around she was singing it. I never thought anything of it, I was grateful she sang it to me but never thought about what she meant. I never realized how much I'd miss it until I couldn't hear her sing it anymore. But I understand now, and I've been trying to live up to it ever since." Lanhardt said while letting the tears he was holding back wash over his face freely.

"What happened to her, why were you all alone?" Misato asked, continuing to walk towards her apartment building as it came into view.

"I'd rather not talk about it right now, I just wanna be happy. Maybe some other time." Lanhardt responded with the same sad smile.

"No problem." Misato said reassuring him with a smile. They walked to the elevator and rode it up towards the proper floor. When they finally got to the apartment, Lanhardt walked Misato to her door, making sure she got in.

"Well I had a good time, you should get a hold of me tomorrow, it is your day off right?" Lanhardt said.

"Yeah tomorrow is my day off." Misato said with a glint of mischief in her eyes, that Lanhardt seemingly didn't notice.

"Alright, mine too, but I better head back to the barracks, I'll see ya tomorrow Misato." Lanhardt said as he began walking back towards the elevator. But stopped as he realized Misato had never released his hand. He turned around again to see what Misato needed.

"Why don't you just stay the night here? I mean the Geo-front is a long ways away, and it's already two o'clock." Misato said while pulling him inside.

"Oh no I don't want to impose; I can make it back without any problems." Lanhardt said barely resisting Misato's attempts to get him inside.

"Your not imposing I'm inviting you in, and if you want to argue more I'll just make it an order." Misato said with the hint of Mischief now invading her voice.

"Alright, Captain." Lanhardt said before chuckling.

Little did the two adults know one of the other occupants of the house was listening in on their conversation through the rice paper walls. He heard a muffled exchange followed by footsteps until finally making out the words of the man he didn't recognize.

"Uh, ha-ha Misato that's alright I'll just sleep on the couch." The man said.

"I don't think you'll fit on the couch Evan." Misato replied with a grin.

"I've slept on or I guess **in** worse." Evan responded.

"Alright let me just get you some sheets and a blanket then." Misato sighed disappointedly before walking towards what the eavesdropper could only assume was the linen closet.

The eavesdropper smiled and unclenched his fist. _I suppose he's alright, I'll talk to him tomorrow._ He thought before removing his ear from the wall and lying back down.

"Here ya go Evan." Misato said handing him a stack of neatly folded sheets and a blanket.

"Thanks Misato" Lanhardt said as she walked away towards her room. He took one look at the couch before muttering to himself. "Shit I don't think I am gonna fit on that." He laughed as he began spreading a sheet over the couch. He managed to find the bathroom on his own in the dark, and began washing his face.

He poked his head back out the door before whispering to Misato. "Hey could I borrow some toothpaste."

"Yeah go ahead" Misato whispered back.

After brushing some toothpaste into his teeth with his index finger he walked back towards the couch. He stripped down to his briefs and undershirt and folded his uniform neatly, setting it next to the couch. His next mission was to find a way to fit on the couch; _I guess I'll just have to sit up._ He thought as he sat down and spread the other sheet and blanket across himself.

He closed his eyes and began to drift off to sleep when he heard the bathroom light turn on, and then the water. Misato walked back into the living room wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top. Lanhardt decided he didn't want to bother her anymore and would pretend to be asleep.

He felt the blanket and sheet lift on one side of him before feeling a warm body snuggle up against him, he decided to play possum further as he heard Misato mutter something.

"I was alone too Evan, my family died and I had no one." Misato whispered so Lanhardt could barely hear it. He thought about saying something for a moment, and for once in his life couldn't think of something comforting to say. So instead he did what came naturally, he wrapped his arm around Misato's shoulder, then leaned down and kissed her on the top of her head. He felt her grip on him even tighter before he leaned his neck back and drifted off to sleep.

_**Approximately Five hours later**_

Lanhardt awoke and jumped from his seat on the couch, he looked around frantically trying to figure out where he was. He looked at the couch and saw Misato's prone form still lying down peacefully, his ragged breathing began to slow as he fully grasped where he was. A smile split his face as he walked towards the sleeping beauty and began stroking her hair; she shuddered a little bit before she smiled and seemed to bring her head closer to his hand. Lanhardt laughed in his mind, _ha-ha she's almost like a cat._

His reverie was broken as he heard a slight clatter of a pot or pan from what he assumed was the kitchen. Lanhardt stood up and went to investigate the noise, peeking his head around the doorframe he saw a young man, with brown hair, wearing a white shirt and black slacks; he appeared to be cooking something. Lanhardt then stepped fully through the doorway and decided to greet him.

"Good morning Pilot Ikari, how are you doin this morning?" Lanhardt said while leaning slightly against the doorway.

"Oh, good morning Mr. Lanhardt, I uh was just fixing some breakfast if you'd like some." The young man stuttered back.

"That would be great, should I wake Misato up?" Lanhardt asked while glancing back towards the living room.

"Ha-ha, no she probably won't be up till at least Noon." The pilot chuckled over his shoulder.

"That heavy a sleeper?" Lanhardt asked

"Yup, you could walk in there and start screaming and she wouldn't even roll over." He answered back with a small chuckle.

"May I borrow a towel and take a shower here Mr. Ikari?" Lanhardt asked while folding his arms across his massive chest.

"Um sure, they're in the linen closet, you can just go grab one, please call me Shinji, Mr. Ikari sounds too weird." Shinji said while bringing a couple of plates out of a cupboard.

"Alright then Shinji, you just call me Evan then, I'm not used to being called Mister either." Lanhardt responded with a smile before walking towards the linen closet to grab a towel and find the bathroom, which was much easier in the light. After a quick shower Lanhardt dried off and went to go put his clothes back on. After which he walked into the dining area to eat.

"This looks great Shinji; I really appreciate it." Lanhardt said while shoveling eggs onto his plate.

"It's no problem; I usually cook breakfast every morning." Shinji said while spooning a few eggs onto his own plate.

"Hey, I just wanted to apologize if we woke you when we came in last night, I didn't expect to stay out that late, or for that matter to intrude, and eat your food." Lanhardt said in between bites of eggs, bacon, and toast.

"Oh it's no intrusion Mr. Lanhardt, I heard Misato invite you in, and it is her house after all." Shinji said while nibbling at his own breakfast.

"Well still, you're the man of the house; you have at least some say." Lanhardt said with a smile, Shinji chuckled. Lanhardt looked at his watch and began to eat his breakfast even faster. Shinji only looked at him with his eyebrow raised; Lanhardt looked up and saw his quizzical look, before answering his unasked question. "Mass starts at eight o'clock, it's seven thirty now and I'ma have to take the bus."

"Oh." Was all that Shinji could say.

"Hey I have an idea, are you religious Shinji?" Lanhardt asked while setting down his fork.

"Um no, not really." Shinji responded now confused.

"Well would you like to come to church with me today? I mean unless you have other plans." Lanhardt said before picking up his plate and going to wash it in the sink.

"Well I suppose I could go, I've never been to church before though." Shinji said while following Lanhardt to the sink.

"Well, you might wanna leave a note for Misato, she might get worried." Lanhardt said as he began walking back towards the living room.

"Ok, it'll just take a second." Shinji said as he began searching for a piece of paper and a pen, after five minutes of searching he began writing a note, and then taped it to the fridge.

"She's so peaceful it seems." Lanhardt said while motioning towards Misato's still prone form lying on the couch, and walking towards the door.

"Yeah she kinda reminds me of a cat when she's asleep." Shinji said as he looked back over his shoulder before walking out the door.

After leaving the house Lanhardt and Shinji made their way to the nearest bus stop, which was about five minutes away. Three bus transfers and about six dollars and sixty cents later, they had arrived at the single Catholic Church in Tokyo-3. Lanhardt lead the way up the short cobblestone steps. Shinji stopped at the foot of the steps and looked up at the church, which was an old decrepit building, but at the same time radiated a sense of power and welcoming. A couple of the stained glass windows were covered in what looked like saran-wrap and some boarded up with two by fours or cardboard. Lanhardt stopped at the top of the steps and looked back down at Shinji.

"I know, it aint pretty but it's still a house of god, when I've had some free time I've come and tried to fix things up, but I've been on call a lot at work lately." Lanhardt said with a nervous grin.

"That's very kind of you." Shinji responded while taking a small step forward up the first step, until finally taking progressively larger steps, finally reaching the top step. Lanhardt opened the door and walked in. The inside of the church was a little better, being well light and actually kind of warm and comforting, something about the air was sweet smelling and soothing. There were only about three other people there, a priest and two other people praying, one of them in a NERV uniform.

Lanhardt walked up to a large bowl of water sitting in a small recessed alcove, he dipped his hand into the bowl slightly and then performed the sign of the cross, which Shinji recognized from a couple of movies. After Lanhardt had finished Shinji looked from the bowl to Lanhardt and back to the bowl again in confusion.

"You don't have to do that, just a little formality." Lanhardt smiled and began moving towards a pew. "I can understand you being a little nervous, but don't feel like there are expectations of you here. Most religious institutions have all kinds of rules and expectations, and then on top of that the heads of the institutions try to cram what they think down your throat. That's how I grew up learning, but I realized the only way to learn was to teach yourself, read the bible, interpret daily life, all these things are best learned on your own." Lanhardt Explained as he sat down on one of the wooden pews and leaned back comfortably.

"But, I've never really believed in god, too much bad has happened in my life, like piloting Eva." Shinji said while sitting down next to Lanhardt and staring at his left arm.

"I saw the fight, you did well Shinji, and it's not wrong to hate fighting, I hate it myself, it's just almost all I've ever known." Lanhardt said while leaning forward to better talk with the young man. "Why am I fighting? Is the question you have to ask yourself, what values are you fighting for, the future of humanity? That's to broad, makes you lose focus on what you want. Do you fight because your father tells you to? I'm thinking that's a no, I was on the bridge when you got here, heard your conversation with your father. So tell me why it is you have begun to fight?" Lanhardt asked as he once again leaned back.

"I don't know, I just do, there's no one else." Shinji said in a small voice, Lanhardt couldn't see the tears growing in his eyes as his head was leaned down.

"Complacency breeds weakness." Lanhardt said. "If there is nothing you wish to fight for then you might as well give up, there must be something that made you decide to fight that day, so let me rephrase it. Why did you decide to pilot Eva when you had earlier refused to do it that day?"

"I… I-I." Shinji paused and let out a quaking sigh while one of the other occupants let out a hacking cough. "Some doctors had brought Ayanami in on a stretcher when I refused to pilot. Father intended to use her to pilot when she was injured, then the angel caused the base to shake and she fell off the bed. The doctors had run off and just left her there, so I went to her and tried to pick her up, she was already bleeding, I couldn't have let her pilot. I'm a coward but I just couldn't make her pilot because **I** was a coward." Shinji explained as he finally began to sob and choke. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked to his left, and saw Lanhardt smiling with his eyes slightly teary holding on to his shoulder.

"The fact that you did that, ran to her aid and fought in her place, proves you're not a coward." Lanhardt said. "So now we have your motivation for fighting, you don't like to see other people hurt, even if preventing that means you'll get hurt. You're a protector." Lanhardt said with his smile growing bigger and more enthusiasm in his voice.

Shinji looked around slightly, letting the information sink in, until finally something clicked in his mind. _Lanhardt's right, I wouldn't have piloted without Ayanami being there._ He thought.

"So what now?" Shinji asked after his revelation.

"You remember why you're fighting every time you're in the Eva, keep that passion in your heart and a prayer on your lips and you will succeed, no matter what. No running away, you're not a coward… Remember that." Lanhardt preached.

Shinji smiled slightly. "Okay, I'll remember that, but I don't know how to pray." Shinji said sheepishly.

"That's alright just repeat after me… Our father who ar't in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, lead us not into temptation, and deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power, the glory forever." Lanhardt recited the prayer. "At the end you can ask of anything, for protection, give god thanks, and so on. Then when you're done, finish it with "Amen"." Lanhardt instructed. Shinji repeated everything as he was taught, adding at the end thanks for being taught by Lanhardt.

"So do you think you can believe in god?" Lanahrdt asked with a grin.

"We'll see… but it is somewhat comforting." Shinji responded while looking down at his lap.

_**Approximately one hour later**_

Misato's eyes slowly began to flutter open, she felt cold. She tried to remember all of last night, but could only remember a few key details, like Lanhardt spending the night. She sat up from the sweat soaked coach and began to look around confusedly. If Lanhardt had stayed the night… where was he? Her mind began to race as many possibilities went through her mind, but only one came to the top… he left her. After a night of fun for himself he had woken up early and immediately left her. Misato let out a disgusted sigh and got up, she walked to the kitchen and checked the microwave, a_t least Shinji is reliable._ She said to herself before taking out the breakfast Shinji had made and put in the microwave to keep it warm. Walking to the fridge she flung the door open, not noticing the small piece of paper slowly spinning to the ground like a tiny helicopter, and reaching in grabbed three beers with one hand. She walked back to the table and sat down, placing the plate of eggs and bacon down, then popping the top of one of the beers and drowning it in about fifteen seconds. She looked back down at the plate and let out a small sigh, before popping the top on the second beer and sipping it slowly this time.

"He left…" Misato whispered as she stared at the breakfast.

_**Approximately one and a half hours later**_

Shinji laughed as he began walking up the stairs towards his apartment. Lanhardt and himself had spent about the last two hours or so repairing the church as best they could. The stained glass windows were a problem because well, neither of them knew how to make or emplace them, they had decided on Lanhardt's next day off they would call a professional. Lanhardt was right behind Shinji as they reached his apartments floor. He moved to the door but before he could even reach for his keycard, the door swung violently open, with Misato standing in the doorway, still in her night cloths… although looking a little more disheveled than she should have.

"Ey Shinji, wahts goin' on." Misato slurred. As she grabbed the young man and pulled him into a bear hug. He soon began gasping for air, as Lanhardt only laughed from behind him.

"Misato, oxygen." Shinji said in labored gasps.

"Whachya sayin? Misato asked pulling him closer and more towards her ear.

"I don't think he can breathe…" Lanhardt chuckled as Misato finally realized what he was saying and immediately let go and began staring at Lanhardt.

"Oh… your back." Misato said, dumbfounded.

"Uh, yeah, we just went to church for a couple of hours." Lanhardt responded, also clearly confused. Shinji finally picked himself up off the ground and stomped past Misato into the apartment. Lanhardt raised his eyebrow at Misato then walked up to her and began sniffing her, his eyebrow raised even further as his mind placed the scent.

"Have you been drinking?" Lanhardt inquired while leaning closer to her face. She grinned slightly before looking away from his gaze and scratching the back of her head, but before she could answer Shinji brushed past Misato and Lanhardt carrying a large clanking trash bag full of what sounded like aluminum cans before answering for her. "Yep, she sure has." He muttered while carrying it to the recycling bins outside.

"Wow, it's like… ten thirty in the morning." Lanhardt said while looking from his watch to Misato. "What's so urgent you have to get drunk about?" He asked as he walked her into the apartment.

Misato walked straight to the couch and sat down, she began looking up at Lanhardt, kind of like a little kid would look at a parent after they had done something wrong.

"I don't know, I was afraid." Misato said in a childish voice, completely at odds with her usual happy loud demeanor, or even her authoritative loud one.

"Afraid of what?" Lanhardt asked in a completely quizzical voice which was also visible on his face. Throwing his confusion to the side he did his best to comfort her.

"Well, when I woke up you weren't here and I got afraid that you just took advantage of me then left, and I didn't want that to happen because you're a nice guy and I wouldn't want that to happen again and…and… and." Misato let out in a near incoherent babble before finally choking and sobbing.

"Whatya mean? Didn't you just read the note we left on the fridge? It said we would be back in awhile." Lanhardt said while patting her gently on the back.

"What note?" Misato said, reverting back to her normal loud voice and completely halting the waterworks. Lanhardt stood up walked into the kitchen and began searching around, after about ten seconds he walked over to the fridge and picked up the errant paper. After picking up the paper he walked back into the living room set the paper down on the coffee table in front of Misato.

Misato looked down at the paper, leaned over slightly to read it and then leaned back again.

"So let me get this straight, you woke up, I wasn't here, and you got up, stormed into the kitchen, flung open the fridge door, and proceeded to drink yourself into oblivion. That sound about right?" Lanhardt said with a slight smirk in his voice.

"…….. Oops." Misato responded sheepishly.

_This is going to be interesting_. Lanhardt thought and shook his head in disbelief, another word quickly popped into his mind _clingy_.

**Author's Note**: Third chapter is on it's way. As i've said before reviews keep me goin, i have also decided to begin taking votes on who Lanhardt will end up with, Misato, Ritsuko, or Maya. still undecided on that.


	3. Debilitating Developments

_**Author's Note**: _Well howdy once again folks. another chapter up and ready.

**Chapter three: Debilitating Developments**

_**Approximately 3 days later**_

"MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!" Plunkett screamed running after one of the security squads. He wasn't satisfied with their performance, so they were now on the fifth mile of their ten mile run Lanhardt noted. Much of the training that had taken place had gone over smoothly, for the past two days physical training was number one on the SAINTS training regime. It seemed to Lanhardt that the only prerequisite for becoming NERV security was the ability to lift a donut to your mouth. Lanhardt's theory seemed proven again as one of the more "round" squad leaders ran past him, sweat streaming down his face, and making a wheezing sound whenever he tried to take a breath of life sustaining air. The SAINTS were issued instructors batons, and were told to "use them however they felt necessary" for the most part it was a show of who was in charge, and to sometimes issue a "reprimand" across the back of the thighs or between the shoulder blades. Plunkett enjoyed those "reprimands" a little too much, almost to the point of outright beating the man who was on the receiving end.

Lanhardt walked back to his training company, stood very tall and began bellowing, he wasn't bellowing because he was angry, he actually hated to yell, but sometimes to teach someone they need to know who was in charge.

"ALRIGHT ON THE BOUNCE MEN!" Lanhardt Yelled signaling the soldiers to begin running in place. "ONE LAP AROUND THE COMPLEX THEN OFF TO THE FIRING RANGE! FALL OUT!" He commanded falling into place beside the company as they began "a lap" which was about a 3 mile run, give or take some.

After they had done their lap they made their way to the firing range. Luckily only one other training company was on the range, it was Faye's, who looked like she was training the snipers of the security units.

"Form single file! Alright everyone pick up a rifle and three magazines from the quarter master!" Lanhardt Ordered. All the men quickly jumped into line and began receiving their equipment. Lanhardt followed behind all ninety men and signed the release for the equipment.

"Thanks McGregon, I'll have everything back in perfect order." Lanhardt said as he signed the release form for the weapons.

McGregon laughed back. "HA! There idn't anythin you can do to those rifles I can't fix!"

McGregon was a good guy, fought back in Ireland; they had an easy comradery soon after Lanhardt told him about his time in the IRA. Lanhardt walked back to his training company, many of them were flipping their rifles around studying them as an ape who was attempting to open a coconut would. Lanhardt stepped forward bringing them all to attention.

"The rifle you are holding is an FN-CAHR, the Close Assault High-output Rifle was designed by the Belgian firearms company Fabrique Nationale in 2012 because of the need for a new rifle specifically designed to undertake the task of urban combat." Lanhardt lectured, doing his best to look in the eyes of each of the ninety men in front of him. "The CAHR has four fire settings, safety which it should be on right now, single shot." He said as he thumbed the selector switch over to single shot mode then immediately back to safety. "Burst fire, which fires three consecutive shots with one squeeze of the trigger, it gives a good mix of control of the weapon as well as a good base of fire. And finally fully automatic… this is NOT to be used during this exercise; in most combat situations it will also prove to be nothing more than a waste of ammunition at any single target. As you will notice the magazines you were issued are drums, they hold 45 rounds per drum and load from underneath like so." Lanhardt continued with his lecture by inserting the drum magazine into the receiver.

"I make no assumptions about you all being able to hold a rifle so I will now demonstrate with a volunteer, Jasper front and center." Lanhardt called out. Jasper jumped at his name being called and scurried forward.

"Alright Jasper on the firing line and shoulder that rifle." Lanhardt ordered while pointing towards the line, just about then it seemed Faye had given her company the free fire order as the sound of gunfire increased drastically in the large room.

Jasper had shouldered his rifle, and for the most part had gotten it right; Lanhardt stepped up behind him and started adjusting his grip and stance. "Now remember most combat you see will be inside the Geo-front, turn sideways and look over your off hand shoulder to minimize your profile, the CAHR has a barrel mounted fore-grip for ease of firing. Any questions?" Lanhardt asked while stepping away from Jasper.

He looked over the company and saw three hands raised. He pointed towards one and waited for the question.

"Sir, why aren't we allowed to use fully automatic?" Benson asked. Lanhardt figured this question was coming from him.

"Decent question, I'll get back to you momentarily." Lanhardt said while motioning to another one of the upraised hands.

"Will we be training in mostly close quarters combat?" one of the McManus brothers asked, at the same time the third hand went down as his question had apparently been asked.

"Yes, as you all know the majority of the Geo-front is a tightly packed mass of hallways and such, thus you will be trained in urban and close quarters combat. There's really no need for training you in jungle fighting if that's what you mean." Lanhardt answered in a slightly sarcastic voice, most of the men just laughed, including McManus.

"Now back to your question Benson, step up to the firing line." Lanhardt said as Benson complied. "Now shoulder that rifle like I explained." Lanhardt instructed as Benson once again did as he was told. "Alright on my command you and Jasper will both fire at your targets, Jasper on single or burst, your choice Jasper, and you on fully automatic." Lanhardt said motioning towards the targets down range.

Both men worked their selector switches into a firing position then shouldered the rifles.

"Fire." Lanhardt said simply. From Jasper came a quick succession of three shots, and from Benson came a stream of fire, he looked like he was wrestling the gun rather than firing it. Most of the training company were covering their ears and cringing, but the McManus brothers were too busy laughing at Benson.

"Cease fire." Lanhardt commanded. "Bring the targets back in."

Jasper and Benson both hit the buttons to bring the paper targets towards them. When they reached the firing line Lanhardt walked forward, he examined each target before unclipping them from the wire and turning around.

"Now the target in my left hand is from Jasper, the right from Benson. Please tell me I don't need to explain why fully automatic is worse." Lanhardt said while holding up the targets, Jasper's target had three holes put nicely through it, one in the chest, throat, and head. While Bensons had a stitch of bullets across the legs, only three of which hit the legs. "I will not accept excuses for poor marksmanship." Lanhardt said as he handed the targets to their shooters

_**Approximately ¼ mile away**_

The Commander of NERV looked over his hands at the firing range. He smiled inwardly at the progress he saw before him.

"How is the training of the security forces going?" He asked the man behind him without looking away from the security teams firing at paper targets below.

"Fairly well, the SAINTS have been working around the clock, and we are beginning to have a competent security force." The Sub-Commander replied in his usual bored tone.

"Good… we'll need it." The Commander said finally grinning beneath his hands.

"The U.N. has questioned your implementation of the SAINTS though, they claim that their ranks are an insult to their skill and combat records and request you return them to their previous rank or they will have them all transferred back to their original units." The Sub-Commander said causing the Commander to frown behind his clasped hands.

"Very well, return them to their previous rank designations or their equivalent, then expedite their paper work through the Officer's Training Academy." Gendo sighed before returning to watch the training below.

_**The Firing Range**_

"Benson, try aiming at the target before you squeeze the trigger… not after." Lanhardt barked as he walked along the firing line for the third time. "Good shot Murphy. See if you can get a few more through that hole." He laughed as he finally stopped to look over the men he was training. He granted himself a slight smile, _they are getting better_ he thought as most of them continued to pelt their targets with the bullets.

As he began to walk back along the firing line a fourth time a message could be heard coming over the P.A. system, it was amplified in the firing range to be heard over the torrent of gunfire. "Paging Corporal Evan Lanhardt, Paging Corporal Evan Lanhardt. Please find the nearest phone and contact Dr. Ritsuko Akagi." The monotone female voice droned on. He quickly looked around finding a courtesy phone on the far wall of the firing range. He began walking briskly towards it while yelling over his shoulder, "Keep firing until I get back, if you run out of ammo ask the quarter master for more."

He walked up to the phone, picked it up and placed it against his ear, waiting for the switchboard operator to pick up.

After thirty seconds of waiting the operator finally picked up, "rank, name, and the person you are trying to contact?" The operator asked in a similar tone as the P.A. girl.

"Corporal Evan Lanhardt, I was instructed to contact Dr. Akagi." Lanhardt grunted into the receiver of the phone.

"One moment please." The operator responded in a slightly more friendly tone. A moment after the phone began ringing, and was picked up very quickly."

"Doctor Akagi here." The voice over the phone came, sounding rushed.

"Afternoon Doctor, this is Corporal Lanhardt, how can I help you?" He asked as politely as he could muster at the moment.

"Ah, thanks for getting a hold of me so quickly. After you are done in the firing range you are to report to R&D section-12. We require your assistance with some tests." Doctor Akagi replied in an entirely too excited voice, in Lanhardt's opinion.

"Great, I'll be there fairly soon, uh I guess I'll see you there." Lanhardt informed her, keeping up the polite tone was becoming harder and harder with each word. Lanhardt slammed the phone back, before muttering a small profanity. He turned back to his training company and began walking back. But stopped when he heard a voice calling his name.

He turned and looked over his shoulder, Faye was hollering and waving towards him, he sighed before turning and jogging towards her.

"What was the phone call about Lanhardt?" Faye asked, her Russian accent evident in her voice.

"I have the privilege of reporting to Doctor Akagi's R&D department after I send my company back to the barracks." Lanhardt responded in mock cheerfulness.

"Ooh… any idea what you'll get to test today?" Faye asked while cringing.

"Nope, but the Doctor sounded excited which cannot be good." Lanhardt responded while running both of his hands through his shaggy hair in frustration.

"Well, good luck. If it looks like it's gonna blow up then get rid of it" Faye responded trying to make a quick joke to cheer Lanhardt up.

"Hell, I'm way ahead of you, I'm gonna throw before it looks like it's gonna blow up." Lanhardt replied completing the joke, but still sounding stressed. He walked back to his training company and began barking orders, taking part of his frustration out on them helped.

_**R&D Section-12**_

Misato began marching down the hallway, she wasn't incredibly happy about supervising one of Ritsuko's pet projects, but it was better than the paper piled on her desk so she accepted. She was walking briskly down the hallway staring at her feet, so she never noticed the door in front of her open and the man walk out from the door. She looked up about a split second too late as she slammed directly into his back, she bounced off and landed on the floor.

The man turned around and immediately bent over to pick her up. "Are you alright Misato?" Lanhardt asked as he hauled her up with one hand and began gently dusting her off.

"Uh, yeah yeah I'm fine. Whatya doin down here" Misato said while trying to stand under her own power.

"Involved in one of Doctor Akagi's experiments." Lanhardt said gloomily. "What about yourself?"

"Same, I'm supervising something or other, ha-ha should be interesting to see the poor sap that gets stuck in whatever it is." Misato said with a snort. She looked at Lanhardt who was walking next to her with his head down. "Uh-oh, its y-"

"Yup." Lanhardt interrupted her. "I'm the little guinea pig who gets to test it out." He said with mock excitement.

"I'm sorry, I uh, I'll make sure nothing bad happens." Misato said while clinging to his jacket.

"It's okay, I'll be fine." Lanhardt said in a monotone voice, _nothing she could do to help if something went wrong_ Lanhardt thought.

They finally made their way to the testing area, Misato still clinging to Lanhardt. As they walked in they noticed a few techs standing around with clipboards. Towards the command bridge of the testing facility, they saw Ritsuko running around like a mad woman, Maya typing away on her computer, and a nervous looking Shinji standing in a corner still in his plug-suit meant for piloting his Eva.

Lanhardt walked up to Shinji and clapped his massive hand onto his shoulder. "Hey kid, what are you doin here too?" Lanhardt asked as he began staring at Ritsuko, who at the moment was hassling one of the techs.

"Oh, I was in training with the Eva, and Misato was supposed to take me home afterwards, so Doctor Akagi brought me with her so Misato could pick me up, I guess I have to watch what happens." Shinji responded shyly, he didn't look like he enjoyed being around this many people.

"Well, I suppose you're in for a show, I have to test something here." Lanhardt responded just as nervously as Shinji.

"Corporal! Good you're here, follow me to the priming area." Ritsuko yelled in a near sing-song tone as she finally caught a glimpse of Lanhardt.

"Yes ma'am." Lanhardt said in his uncharacteristic gloomy tone, he began shuffling towards the Doctor like a dog who had just been beat. "What am I testing today Doctor?" Lanhardt asked hoping to hear good news.

"Ah, good question, you will be testing the MU Land-Warrior suit." Ritsuko answered with glee.

"The what?" Lanhardt questioned nervously.

"The MU Land-Warrior suit, it is a full body suit incorporating the electronic systems of the Land-Warrior system that the Americans created, with a muscle suit. The muscles were cultured and grown from a previous Eva project, then processed into fibers and finally spun into a suit." Ritsuko rambled on happily ignoring Lanhardt's worried looks.

"Okay Doctor, I know what the Land-Warrior system is… but what in the hell do you mean muscle suit? Make it simple if you don't mind." Lanhardt demanded while keeping pace with the Doctor.

"The muscle suit is basically a jumpsuit that you put on, when you put it on, artificial muscles inside of it activate, granting the user enhanced speed, strength, and agility." Ritsuko explained so Lanhardt could understand, but paused in between each word like she was talking to a three year old, which had begun to Irk Lanhardt.

"Okay, got it, superman suit, pure and simple." Lanhardt said to himself.

"Alright here, strip down and put this on." Ritsuko said while leading Lanhardt to a metal case, which had MU-Land-Warrior-Suit stenciled on top of it. Ritsuko Opened it to reveal what looked like a bulkier plug-suit similiar to what Shinji wore, except more heavily armored, with ceramic plating over the chest, stomach, shoulders, crotch, forearms, and thighs. Also with a matching pair of boots to go over the feet of the suit.

Lanhardt looked around for a dressing room, or anything to hide behind while changing, but there was simply nothing. He looked like a deer in front of headlights between the people milling around him.

"What are you waiting for? Put it on!" Ritsuko demanded. She attempted to remove Lahardt's jacket for him, but failed to get it off of his huge shoulders.

"Um, is there somewhere I can change? Or anything like that?" Lanhardt Asked in a small voice.

"Well, no not really, just don't worry about it; we need to get this test started" She answered.

Lanhardt slowly began to remove his jacket, doing his best to keep an eye on every single person in the room, at the same time. When he was down to just his pants he heard a few laughs and giggles, but did his best to ignore them. But as soon as he went towards his belt, it seemed Misato couldn't resist.

"YEAH BABY TAKE IT OFF!!!" She yelled before laughing so hard she fell over. Everyone else took that as their queue to begin laughing openly. Lanhardt quickly began gathering his clothes and stalking off towards the door, but before he could get there Ritsuko and Misato intercepted him.

"I'm so sorry, I just couldn't resist! Please I'm sorry just put the suit on." Misato begged in between giggles and death glares from Ritsuko.

"Please Corporal, this is important, if you'd like we could send Misato out of the room." Ritsuko did her best to reassure him while glaring at Misato.

Lanhardt looked at the two pleading women before him, before sighing with his head down again. "Alright." He muttered before turning around and walking back towards the suit. The laughter had died down and everyone was trying to get back to work.

After ten minutes and a few more jeers from Misato, Lanhardt had finally put the suit on. It felt tight, not just tight in one area but all across his body, and like it was moving, crawling all across his skin.

"Alright, how do you feel Corporal?" Ritsuko asked, trying to discern any problems that might occur. "Like a chimp about to be shot into space." Lanhardt muttered under his breath. "I'm sorry what did you say?" Ritsuko asked completely oblivious.

"Its okay, the suit feels like its moving." Lanhardt said in a near disgusted voice.

"That's normal; the muscle in the suit is conforming to your body shape." Ritsuko said while monitoring the suits shaping process.

"I thought you said this thing amplified my strength… I don't feel any different." Lanhardt said while looking at his flexing hand.

"We haven't activated it yet, are you ready?" Ritsuko asked, slightly worried about how he would respond to the electric current used to activate it.

"Yeah I'm ready, go ahead and do what you do." Lanhardt answered, trying not to let his trepidation slip into his voice. As soon as he finished his sentence two poles surfaced from the floor around him. Lanhardt raised his eyebrow at the two poles, but went into outright panic as he saw electricity begin to flicker from one pole to the other, and then back again.

"Um, what's going on?" Lanhardt asked, his voice wavering slightly as the current between the poles began to increase.

"To activate the suit we need to send an electric current through it to activate the muscles, otherwise they will remain inept." Ritsuko answered, trying to sound in control so Lanhardt would remain calm.

The current finally built to its peak, the crackling it caused echoed off the walls of the large open room. With one final crack, much louder than the rest, the current between the poles rushed down towards the ground, catching Lanhardt in the middle. The current splayed over his spasming body a moment before finally grounding itself to the floor.

Lanhardt gritted his teeth as he felt the muscle suit pull under its own accord. He attempted to struggle against the powerful muscles and stood erect for a moment, but was then easily pulled to his knees. His legs curled up towards his chest, as his upper body was pulled into a fetal position. Every muscle inside of his body, as well as the muscle suit contracted. Popping ligaments and the wet snap of bones could be heard from the control room. Maya looked on in horror at the man before her, simply gritting his teeth against the pain that would make any normal man scream for his mother, finally she could no longer stand to watch, she turned away and barely covered her mouth to hold in the bile rising from her stomach.

Ritsuko also looked at Lanhardt's prone form, muttering under her breath, she was shocked into silence and inaction, she could see blood beginning to gush slowly out of his nose, mouth, and ears.

Misato was the first one to act, running towards Lanhardt and kneeling beside him. She began to test the suit, looking for the seal that opened it, but only feeling tough, knotted muscles. She quickly grabbed a knife from her boot, and began trying to pry it underneath the back of the neck seal.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!" She screamed as she realized the knife wouldn't fit into the seal. Lanhardt continued to grit his teeth and clamp his eyes shut against the pain, his lips moving in silent prayer, and tears beginning to form in the corners of his eyes. One of the techs ran up with several syringes, and began punching them, one after the other into various plugs in the suit.

"What is that?" Misato asked frantically, as she backed away from Lanhardt to give the tech access to more of the plugs.

"It's a potassium muscle relaxant; it should make the muscles stop contracting around him." The tech said as he plunged the last syringe into Lanhardt's thigh. Soon after the relaxant was injected Lanhardt's body could be seen relaxing, if ever so slightly.

"Try to straighten him out, it should lessen the pain, then we can try to remove him from the suit." The tech said as he ran for Lanhardt's feet.

"Look! His fingers are uncurling. Somebody call a medical team!" Misato yelled to the control room. Everyone in the control room looked around in confusion before three people moved to the various phones and began frantically dialing numbers. "Ritsuko, get out here and help, you're the one who designed this goddamned thing!"

Ritsuko was finally broken from her state of shock, and ran towards the group of three on the testing floor. "We have to get him out of the suit, check the seal around his neck." Ritsuko said skidding to a halt on her knees next to them. She reached around behind his neck and felt for the pressure seal, the muscles had slackened enough to reach it; she pressed it and held it down for eight seconds. A loud hiss was heard from the suit as the pressure seal was released, followed closely by the strong scent of burnt flesh. Ritsuko recoiled as a plume of steam smelling of scalded flesh emerged from the seam along Lanhardt's spine.

Misato had also jumped away from the acrid steam and landed on her backside. "OH GOD!" She cried as she began scrambling back onto her hands and knees towards Lanhardt, as soon as she reached him she began to peel back the suit, only to see charred muscle, where Lanhardt's skin should have been. She turned away covering her nose and mouth with her hands.

"Oh my god, he's burnt all over." Misato screamed, slightly muffled by her hands. Ritsuko began checking the burnt flesh, poking and prodding at it, before finally beginning to scrape off charred muscle.

"It's alright, the muscle that is burnt is from the suit, but his skin is still intact underneath." Ritsuko exclaimed as she began to slough off more of the artificial muscle. She reached up to check Lanhardt's pulse, it seemed steady. She then held her ear near his mouth, listening intently to his breathing. After a few moments of listening, Ritsuko began to panic.

"He's not breathing." She stated simply as she initiated mouth to mouth. After a few repetitions, she began to fall further into panic. Until with one final mighty breath, Lanhardt's eyes shot open and he began coughing violently, small puffs of smoke pluming out with each cough. Lanhardt looked up from his position on the ground in confusion.

"What just happened?" Lanhardt asked, looking around before attempting to sit up, lifting his sore arms he tried to prop himself up on his elbows, before hearing a slight popping sound and falling back down, his head bounced off the once pristine floor as he grunted in pain.

He could hear voices shouting at him, _what did I screw up this time?_ He asked himself, before finally slipping out of consciousness.

_**Unknown amount of time later**_

Lanhardt opened his eyes lazily, before shutting them quickly to keep out the blinding light above him and muttering under his breath, threatening the overhead light's life. He opened his eyes once more, before looking around to discern where he was. He noted the very white room, with a white floor, white walls… and of course white ceiling, with a few machines surrounding his bed.

"Gaargh, damned hospital with their damned bright lights and their damned crappy Jell-O." Lanhardt grumbled as he realized where he was. As soon as he was done cursing he heard a soft voice and the shuffling of feet before the door to his room was opened, and a nurse in a white uniform walked in.

"Oh my gosh, your awake, I'll just go get the Doctor, she should be happy your up." The nurse said in a high nasally voice, which sounded much like nails on a chalkboard to Lanhardt in his current state. Before he could protest against her voice, she turned and left the room. He began trying to sit up, but realized his arms and legs did not want to respond to his commands. After a few more minutes of struggling, Lanhardt came to a conclusion… he was paralyzed. Panic overcame him as his eyes darted around the room, looking for a nurse call button. Tears had begun to form in the corners of his eyes as the door to his room opened once again. Ritsuko walked through the door this time walking straight to the bed, she could tell Lanhardt was scared, she had just witnessed the man being crushed by muscles thirty times the strength of a man, and he wasn't about to cry then, but now he was.

"What's wrong Corporal?" Ritsuko asked as she rushed to the side of his bed. He had slowly begun to sniffle, trying to hide his tears from the woman in the room.

"Please, please Doctor tell me I'm not paralyzed… please." Lanhardt said in a quaking voice, he had almost lost his composure towards the end of the sentence.

Ritsuko smiled before grabbing his hand and squeezing it slightly, then leaning over the bed. "No, your gonna be fine, you can't move because of the muscle relaxants used to get you out of the suit, you should be able to move in a day or two."

"Ar-are you sure, I mean… just are you positive?" Lanhardt asked, still unable to believe he was fine.

"You can feel my hand can't you?" Ritsuko asked squeezing his hand again, but much harder this time.

"Well yeah, so I'm gonna be fine. You promise?" Lanhardt asked, still unsure and sounding like a child.

"I promise." Ritsuko said simply.

She stepped away slightly from the bed and grabbed one of the hospital chairs and pulling it to the edge of the bed, but never letting go of Lanhardt's hand. Lanhardt looked around uncomfortably as her eyes attempted to lock onto his. "So uh… What the hell happened Doctor?" Lanhardt asked while forcing his eyes to return to hers.

"Well we… I mean… **I** overestimated the power needed to activate the muscles, so when the electric current went through the suit, you and it were electrocuted, the shielding in the suit was overpowered, causing all the muscles to burn, and constrict. I'm just glad you weren't crushed completely." Ritsuko answered, she thought that Lanhardt was still too numb to feel her stroking his hand lightly… he did.

"Oh, how bad was it?" Lanhardt asked

"Did you ever see that old movie _Anaconda_?" Ritsuko asked

"Uh, yeah, big snake, eatin' people. That movie was freakin terrible. A snake wouldn't really do all that." Lanhardt said his voice slightly disgusted. "What does that have to do with how bad the suit constrict-Oh!" Lanhardt said as he finally realized what she was alluding to.

"Yeah, you would have been better off fist-fighting one of those snakes." Ritsuko said chuckling slightly.

"Shit, I probably could have taken the snake." Lanhardt said with sarcastic bravado.

"Look, I'm really sorry, it was my fault entirely this happened, I don't really know what to say other than that." Ritsuko said breaking her eyes away from Lanhardt's for the first time, depression clearly evident in her voice.

Lanhardt tried to reach up with his still paralyzed arm, but it still refused to move. He stopped and thought about the situation, _so she blames herself, and is sad I actually got hurt…Wow! I thought she was pretty heartless there for awhile._ Lanhardt thought, his arm slowly began lifting shakily, before he moved it across his body, and letting it rest on top of her hand. She looked at his hand in shock, as she had estimated he wouldn't be able to move for at least a day. "It's alright, that was the first test, so you couldn't have known what was gonna happen, well I mean you could have had a pretty good idea, but never known for sure. So sorry is all you really need to say. You just have to promise me one thing." Lanhardt said caringly.

"Yes, what is it?" Ritsuko asked while still confused.

"The next time you test that suit, I get to do it, and I mean nobody gets inside that thing before I do. Got that?" Lanhardt said, his confidence startling Ritsuko, while amazing her at the same time.

"Okay, I guarantee you will be the designated test subject for all MU-Land-Warrior experiments."

A loud clatter sounded from outside the door, right before the door burst open and a flash of purple and red bolted through the doorway. Ritsuko jumped in panic immediately releasing Lanhardt's hand. The flash of purple and red revealed herself to be none other than Misato, as she began hugging Lanhardt profusely and sputtering on about how she was happy he was ok.

"Ah! Put me back in the suit!" Lanhardt said while laughing, and from the doorway a small chuckle could be heard as Shinji walked into the room.

"Misato you might wanna be careful, it's only been a day since he was crushed once, twice in a week would be unfortunate." Shinji said with a smile.

Misato looked around at everyone else in the room, then back to Lanhardt before releasing him and bowing slightly, "Sorry." She uttered before pulling a chair up to opposite side of the bed Ritsuko was on.

"So," Lanhardt began as he shifted around on the bed slightly. "I have a few cracked or broken ribs, I cracked my right shoulder socket, I have a bunch of ligaments that had to be surgically reattached, and my right elbow is broken along with my radius and ulna, a few sutures for internal bleeding, and a lot of hairline fractures in my legs. To top it all off second degree burns covering most of my body from the neck down. Sound about right Doctor?" Lanhardt said, his muscle control seemed to be returning rather quickly as he rolled his left shoulder around in a small circle.

"Uh, actually yeah, that's all of 'em." Ritsuko said in an even more confused voice, she began looking at him as though he were a ghost. While Misato sat with her jaw drooping.

"Uh, how'd you know all that?" Shinji asked also sounding confused.

"I can feel it, when you have a broken bone you can feel the fracture grind together when you move. And the burns are just an incessant nagging pain. After a few injuries you can tell what they are pretty easily, doesn't feel too good; so can we go get some food?" Lanhardt asked as he began sitting up slowly. Misato and Ritsuko immediately pushed him back down on the bed, startling each other when they performed the same action.

"You're not allowed to move until I clear you for duty." Ritsuko said while standing and heading for the door. "Food will be delivered three times a day."

"Oh come on Ritsu, he hasn't eaten in a day and a half, and he looks fit to me." Misato said, as her hand unconsciously traced circles along his bicep.

"Well Misato, you're not a doctor, so whether he looks "fit" to you or not doesn't really matter." Ritsuko said in a jealous tone only Lanhardt understood. Ritsuko turned and walked out of the room growling in frustration.

"What was up with her?" Misato asked, only adding to the mass of confusion she felt. Lanhardt sat back up, fluffing one of the pillows behind his back, before answering.

"Uh, I have no idea." Lanhardt lied, "I guess she just doesn't like being undermined in her field O' expertise." Shinji walked up and took the seat that Ritsuko had occupied only seconds before, while Misato stood up and began walking towards the door.

"I'm gonna go talk to her and see if I can get you outta here." Misato said with a wink as she exited the room. Shinji looked at Lanhardt in awe, before finally stuttering a question.

"So how are you feeling?" Shinji asked, not wanting to remind Lanhardt of his injuries. He never liked to talk about his and figured Lanhardt wouldn't either.

"Oh, I'm okay I guess, feel kinda like I just got the life squeezed out of me, but I'll heal." Lanhardt said with no trace of sarcasm. "So how have you been doin' buddy? I hadn't gotten a chance to talk to ya in awhile."

"Just going to school, then doing sync tests and some combat training in the Eva." Shinji explained, sounding bored.

"That doesn't sound too bad, although if you're bored we could get you into some conditioning here at NERV." Lanhardt said jokingly.

"Really? You could do that for me?" Shinji asked with a hint of excitement.

Lanhardt raised his eyebrow slightly before answering. "Well yeah of course, you can just tag along with my training company when I'm up and running again. We do some combat training, but you wouldn't have to do that if you didn't want to."

"Well, I don't know about that, but I can give it a try." Shinji said thinking about the weapons with distaste.

"So when's the last time you talked to Ayanami?" Lanhardt asked smirking slightly.

Shinji smiled subtly, "Well I talked to her today, she never talks much, but you can tell she's listening." Shinji said, not realizing he was smiling openly. "I don't understand her sometimes, in school she just sits there and stares out the window."

Lanhardt knitted his eyebrows together as he thought for a moment. "Why don't you invite her to work out with you? I bet you could get to know her more then." Lanhardt suggested, smiling inwardly.

"Really? I mean uh, ha-ha, sure I could ask her." Shinji stuttered trying once again to hide his smile.

Lanhardt looked up as he heard the voices of Misato and Ritsuko arguing outside, he looked up as Misato walked in with a triumphant smile on her face, and Ritsuko close behind pushing a wheelchair, a bundle of clothing sitting on it. Lanhardt smiled at both of the women, which only made Misato's grin grow wider, while Ritsuko looked away with a slight smile and pushed her glasses back up to the bridge of her nose.

"You're allowed out for lunch today Corporal." Ritsuko said while handing Lanhardt his uniform. Lanhardt took the uniform and began to pull his pants on underneath the sheet that was covering him, he looked down and realized most of his body was covered in bandages, other than the cast entirely casing his right arm. He figured he didn't need a shirt as the bandages acted as one. But then decided he had better at least drape his jacket over his shoulders. he looked at the rank insignia on his uniform and realized it had changed.

"What the hell is this?" Lanhardt asked fidgeting with the insignia. "Oh yeah!" Misato exclaimed. "The commander has returned all of the SAINTS to their previous rank. so you're a Captain now. Temuera is a Major, both Molov and Kawada are Lieutenants and Plunkett is a First Sergeant. you all have tactical command of the security units but will remain a special unit as well." Misato said excitedly. Lanhardt only gave a sad smile as he threw the sheet off of himself and lazily dumped his legs off the bed. Ritsuko brought the wheelchair next to the bed and began trying to help Lanhardt into it.

"Thanks Doctor, but I can manage." Lanhardt said while he pulled himself into the wheelchair on his own. Misato fought Ritsuko for control of the wheelchair, which Ritsuko gave up in favor of walking next to Lanhardt. The group of four walked in a comfortable silence all the way to the main cafeteria. As soon as they entered the mess hall the sound of dishes clanking together, people chatting and laughing, and food cooking, hit them like a physical wall.

Lanhardt smiled as he saw his training company occupying a few rows of tables all close together. Jasper looked up from the table and saw Lanhardt being pushed in a wheelchair by two beautiful women, and flanked by the third child. Jasper leaned over and whispered to Murphy, the younger of the McManus brothers, as soon as Murphy heard what Jasper had said his eyes darted about the room searching for their leader. His eyes locked onto Lanhardt and he abruptly stood up cheering, knocking into his brother Connor. Connor looked around to try and discern what his brother was yelling about, and saw Lanhardt at the same time the rest of the company saw him.

As one the company stood up cheering, hooting and hollering, startling many people from their meals. Lanhardt broke free from Misato's steering and wheeled himself over to his company, stopping the wheelchair in front of the semi-circle they had formed and doing a quick three hundred and sixty degree spin that made the company erupt in another cheer. Other tables began looking at the spectacle being played out in the middle of the mess hall with a mixture of whimsical amusement, and excluded annoyance.

"What happened Lanhardt, we heard you were hurt real bad in one of Crazy-Akagi's experiments?" one of the men asked, emphasizing the Crazy-Akagi part just within audible range of her.

_They think I'm crazy?_ Ritsuko thought as she walked towards them with something akin to shocked curiosity.

One of the other men in the company began speaking. "Wow, and you have two nurses to follow you around the whole time!" He said, and then dropped into a lower voice. "And their both blazing hot, what did you do to deserve that?"

Lanhardt chuckled slightly before realizing Ritsuko was directly behind him before clearing his throat slightly.

"Company! TEN-SHUN!" Lanhardt bellowed. "This is Doctor Ritsuko Akagi and Captain Misato Katsuragi… These women saved my life." Lanhardt said with all the authority his men didn't expect.

The men looked on in stunned silence; the majority opinion had always been that Doctor Akagi was some kooky old Doctor Frankenstein wannabe, not the bottle blond bombshell standing in front of them. They had also heard about Captain Katsuragi as well, and expected her to be some old hard bitten leathery female strategist. The collective silence had amused Misato so much, she walked forward and waved saying "Hi" before giggling. All the men lined up could not have had their jaws drop any lower if it were possible.

"Gentlemen, go ahead and place your lower jaws back in their fully upright and locked positions. Lanhardt said with mock authority before continuing. "This young man is Pilot Shinji Ikari, third child and designated pilot of Eva unit-01. He will be joining our training company as soon as I am combat capable.

The crowd burst into a third bout of cheering and hooting, each holding out their hands for Shinji to shake. Shinji slowly and uncertainly walked up and began shaking various hands, sometimes when he shook a hand the opposite hand would shoot out and ruffle his hair. He smiled back, shaking hands quicker and with more vigor until finally troopers were just patting him on the back, and saying "Welcome to Sierra Company."

Shinji finally turned around back to Lanhardt; Lanhardt had a big smile plastered across his face and Shinji a small uncertain smile of his own. Lanhardt looked around the mess hall at the other security units and various technicians in the area. Lanhardt motioned for Shinji to come closer and said something in a hushed tone, Misato and Ritsuko catching small bits of what he said over the din of the troopers, key words being protect, duty, and innocent.

The cheering died down, while Lanhardt looked around with a sad smile. "Alright, back to your food troopers. I'll be with ya'll as soon as I get some grub." He turned the wheelchair towards the chow line and wheeled his way towards it, Misato, Ritsuko, and Shinji in tow. Shinji looked happier than he had been in awhile. Misato and Ritsuko looked at Lanhardt in awe for a second time in the past half hour.

Misato leaned over to Ritsuko and whispered. "What the hell do ya think that was about?" Misato asked in a whisper.

Ritsuko looked over at her and whispered back. "You have clearance to read most of his combat record, every war-zone he's been in was started by an oppressive government military or paramilitary organization, Ireland was put under marshal law by the British, their agricultural capabilities were crippled during second impact so they invaded Ireland to commandeer theirs, causing mass famine and becoming very reminiscent of the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939, the British discriminated against the local Irish, treating them as inferior until a reincarnation of the IRA rose up against them. Soon after he was in Bosnia, the government was on its third attempted genocide of the Muslims living there. After that he was in former Egypt training local militia to repel terrorist insurgents that had been plaguing the area for two years, they were killing indiscriminately along the streets and breaking into many of the more prominent figures homes in the community and executing them. The rest is classified, so I can't even begin to tell you how many other policing actions and military engagements he has been in, but I guarantee it's been more than any man should have seen. His motto is a self-righteous vengeance he has acquired over the years of fighting put into action, pretty simple philosophy if not a noble one "protect those in need or die protecting them". He has had the same theory since he was in Ireland when he was thirteen. I would imagine he imparted some of that wisdom upon Shinji." Ritsuko finished as Lanhardt and Shinji carried on a conversation ahead of them.

"Ritsu, you know a lot about Evan don't you?" Misato asked still keeping her voice down.

"Well yes, I have to admit his life has been interesting to say the least, he's endured hardships that many men combined haven't seen, and for all of that he is still happy, kind, and optimistic." Ritsuko responded while taking a sidelong glance at Lanhardt.

"Uh Ritsu, kinda creepy." Misato said while giggling.

"HEY! You were the one that asked!" Ritsuko said completely forgetting to whisper, after which Lanhardt and Shinji looked back. Ritsuko flushed before looking back to Misato.

"Oh hell, would you just hand me a damned tray!" Ritsuko said briskly to her friend. Lanhardt looked away from the two women bickering behind him to continue his conversation with Shinji.

"So what does "Sierra" mean?" Shinji asked while carrying a tray for Lanhardt as he walked beside him.

"Well "Sierra" is the letter S in the U.S. Military phonetic alphabet, the reason they created this alphabet was so it would be easier to memorize in the heat of battle, say you have to call in an air strike on location WC-104, over the communications gear you would call in an air strike on whiskey charlie one zero four. It's easier and quicker to say, plus more easily understood with noise in the back ground and not confused with a like letter such as V's and B's. Now as for the company being "Sierra" company, there are twenty six letters in the English alphabet, we have five training companies in the facility, well over a thousand men including support units and such.

"Oh, interesting, I really thank you for letting me into Sierra Company Evan, it may not seem like a big deal to you, but it's the only thing I've really been invited to be a part of." Shinji said with a sad smile on his face.

"Don't even worry about it, we're all honored you accepted our invitation, all I ask is you work as hard as you can, I don't expect you to be able to do everything we train for, but like I said you need to at least try." Lanhardt responded while wheeling his chair forward. "And just remember to extend our invitation to Ayanami as soon as you get a chance."

As soon as the name Ayanami left Lanhardt's mouth, Shinji was smiling happily again. "Okay, ya know if you don't mind I'd like to go find her now." Shinji said while fidgeting with one of the trays in his hands.

Lanhardt smiled before nodding. "Go ahead kid, good luck finding her." Shinji set his tray down and then handed Lanhardt his own, and ran of at a jog. Lanhardt set down his tray quickly before cupping his hands around his mouth and yelling after Shinji "Hey Shinji, as soon as you find her you two come back here and meet us, recruits need to eat with the rest of their company!"

Shinji turned around while running and waved slightly before running off again. Lanhardt turned his wheelchair around and began to wheel himself down the chow line backwards with his tray in his lap, trying to listen in on what the women were saying. As soon as he began looking at them they immediately stopped talking.

"Ah, secrets about me eh?" Lanhardt said trying to contain his smile. Both women looked at each other then turned bright red and began waving their hands around, repeating "no of course not."

"It's alright; if ya'll have questions you can just ask me, I don't mind answering most of them." Lanhardt said as he bumped into the person at the end of the line. Lanhardt turned around slightly to apologize, and realized who it was.

"Hey Ibuki!!! How ya been, I haven't seen you around since that run-n-gun!" Lanhardt said enthusiastically.

Ibuki looked down and gasped slightly at the wheelchair before answering Lanhardt's question. "Oh, hello Captain Lanhardt, I've been okay, only thing I can keep down is pudding and Jell-O." Ibuki said with distaste.

"Word travels quick about promotions here? Try beef jerky, it's dry so it should absorb your stomach acids easily, and it's solid so it's a change from mushy stuff. So what company are you in?" Lanhardt said as he turned the wheelchair around to face him.

"Oh, I'm in Alpha Company, intelligence division." Ibuki said while moving back down the line.

"That's Tem's Companies, he's a good instructor, make sure you pay attention to what he has to say." Lanhardt said.

"Yeah, I've been absorbing as much as I can, so I heard you were in another accident yesterday, what happened to put you in a wheelchair?" Ibuki asked as he reached for a small bowl of cubed green jell-O.

Before Lanhardt could respond Ritsuko jumped into the conversation. "It's classified, it happened during an experiment yesterday" She said while balancing her food tray on one hand and pushing her glasses farther up her nose with the other.

"Oh, well what was it like? I mean no details or anything." Ibuki said clearly still curious.

"Well, have you ever seen that movie _Anaconda_?" Lanhardt said laughing, a second later Ritsuko joined in chuckling lightly.

**Author's Note**: I like the way this story is goin, not much to say other than that. Leave a comment if ya got somethin to say folks


	4. It Builds Character

_**Approximately nineteen hours later**_

Shinji sighed as the teacher continued his lecture on pre-second impact. He looked around the room and tried to find something interesting, Ayanami was staring out the window, and in turn Shinji began staring at Ayanami. He looked back down at his desk at the notes he had half begun to type on his laptop. As he attempted to continue with his notes a message flashed up on his screen. The simple message said "Are you the pilot? Y/N" Shinji looked around the room looking for someone who might have sent it; a couple girls in the back of the room were hunched over one computer giggling. He turned back towards his computer before thinking for a moment. _I don't think it's classified that I'm a pilot, plus if there's an attack while I'm at school and run off they won't think I'm a coward_ Shinji thought smiling with his answer. He smiled as he typed his answer in slowly, Y E S.

It seemed everyone in the room had received the message, because in an instant everyone rushed towards him, desks skidding across the floor as they came towards him and a billion questions assaulted him.

Shinji threw his head down on the desk before raising it and his hands, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, one question at a time I can't understand any of you." He yelled over the crowd, standing to look over them at the teacher who was still giving his lecture, apparently he was very hard of hearing.

The class rep was attempting to get everyone back in their seats and failing, most of the questions were about the Evangelions which Shinji knew he couldn't answer, but as soon as he heard the question "what's its special attack" he stopped and fixed the boy with a glare.

"What do you mean "what's its special attack"?" Shinji said with a bit of disgust evident in his voice.

The kid smiled before rambling on "Ya know like the Gundams or stuff how they have like weapons and special transformations and attacks." The kid said eagerly making motions as if he was holding guns.

Shinji leaned forward towards the kid, the sudden urge to rip his head off tempting him. "It isn't a cartoon, or a game or any of that crap! These Evas hurt people, one thing I will tell you all is that whenever the Eva gets damaged, the pilot feels it." Shinji said between gritted teeth not realizing he had grabbed the front of the kids' shirt before pointing towards Rei with her many bandages who stared back startled by the attention she was receiving. "You see that, she was injured in an Eva."

Many of the people gasped and one of the girls asked "Well why do you keep piloting it?"

Shinji exhaled after realizing he had just yelled at everyone, he looked down at the kid being held up by his shirt and let go of him before attempting to straighten the wrinkles he had caused in his shirt. "I'm sorry." Shinji said looking down "I'm not a hundred percent sure why I'm piloting it, but I guess it's so others won't get hurt."

The bell rang and everyone quickly filtered out, startled at what Shinji had said. Shinji walked out onto the school grounds prepared to head home when he heard a voice behind him call out "Hey new kid good speech!" Shinji turned around right into a punch that the voice behind him had thrown; he stumbled and fell backwards while holding up his hand to ward off any further blows. He scrambled back onto his hands and knees anticipating that the attacker would begin trying to stomp on him. He looked up to see one of his class mates standing over him, the big one in the track suit. Shinji stood up and tried to stare the guy down.

"Sorry new kid, I just had to work off some of my own anger, and you just happened to be in my way." The big kid said.

"Oh, well… me too." Shinji said before he charged the guy with his head lowered, he ran with his head down placing his shoulder into the guy's stomach, Shinji heard the jock grunt as the air was knocked out of him and begin gasping for air. Shinji smiled to himself before he felt an arm encircle his neck, for a split second Shinji thought about what he had done and realized the position he had put himself in right before the large boy began hammering his fist into Shinji's stomach. He tried to pull out of the reverse headlock he had put himself into but couldn't escape the grip of the jock holding him, between the pain inflicted on his stomach and the tears forming in his eyes he saw only one way out, it was cowardly but he decided he had to.

He reared his right arm back and punched the guy in the crotch. He could hear the guy scream in pain and the arm around his neck loosened enough for him to escape, he backed up and planted his right fist into the kids face. The guy dropped to one knee gasping and holding his face, he looked up at Shinji and charged him like Shinji had done only seconds before except the jock was much bigger than Shinji, he ran into him knocking him down before standing over him, crouching slightly, and began pummeling Shinji's face.

Shinji couldn't see but could hear the crowd that had gathered around them, he heard one voice begin yelling at everyone. One of the girls ran up and began hitting the jock in the back of the head with her schoolbag screaming "get off of him Suzuhara!" which seemed to be enough to make the fist stop falling on Shinji's face. He looked up as the large blurry form of his attacker backed away from him, replaced by a smaller blurry form. The blur grabbed his left arm and tried to help him sit up while a second blur grabbed his right arm to do the same. Black began to creep into the edges of his vision as his eyes cleared slightly. He watched as the blurs resolved into people, he smiled slightly with blood running down his chin and revealing his blood soaked teeth, Rei was standing on his right holding him up with her uninjured arm, with the class representative holding him up with both of her arms and yelling at people to get out of the way.

_**The Geofront**_

"Ma'am we have an incoming target from the eastern shore." Lieutenant Hyuuga said from his seat in front of the long range radar surveillance station.

Misato rushed from where she was standing next to Ritsuko to look over his shoulder. "Is it an angel?" She asked hovering over Hyuuga's shoulder.

"We can't tell yet, it's still about 2 hours away in the Pacific Ocean. We will be able to confirm in half an hour.

Commander Ikari spoke for the first time from behind his clasped hands. "Send a detachment to retrieve the pilots, nothing big so it doesn't cause a panic. Then when the pilots are safely in the Geofront signal the evacuation."

"Yes sir." Misato said before turning to bark orders at everyone around her.

_**Tokyo-3 Public school**_

"What were you thinking Ikari?!" The class representative asked as she opened a door in front of them.

"Yes I am also curious as to what your motives were, he was… much bigger than you." Rei chimed in.

Shinji looked around drunkenly swaying his head to look at each girl in turn before answering. "He hit me firss', and for no reasson. I din't fink about it. If I would'a thought about it I wouldn'ta done that" Shinji said slurring as his cheeks began to swell up.

They walked through the door to the nurse's office, as soon as they walked through the nurse turned and gasped as she saw Shinji covered in blood and rushed over to the two girls carrying him. She grabbed him and set him down in a chair, then went to a cabinet and picked out a box of cotton balls and a bottle of peroxide and a few other things.

"What happened?" the nurse asked as she poured a small amount of the peroxide onto one of the cotton balls.

Before Shinji could answer the class representative stepped forward with her hands clasped in front of her. "He fell down the east stairwell, all the way from the top." She said with all the authority of an eighth grader.

"Oh my gosh! Here sweety this will sting a bit." The nurse said as she began dabbing away blood with a gauze and then dabbed at the cuts underneath with the peroxide ball.

Rei looked up from the ground and stared at Shinji for a moment. "We need to get to the Geofront now." She said in her usual brisk monotone.

Shinji pushed the nurse's hand away for a moment and stared at Rei in confusion. A second later the door burst open and Major Morston rushed in looking around quickly seeming slightly embarrassed at his entrance when he noticed the nurse.

"Ahem, hey kids, we need you back at the Geofront." Major Morston said calmly after clearing his throat and straitening his uniform slightly. Shinji and the class rep looked around the room in confusion, while Rei just began walking towards the Major.

Shinji shrugged slightly and began shuffling towards the Major, but was stopped by a hand on his arm. "Wait, you can't take him he's hurt." The class rep said pulling Shinji back towards the nurse.

"Sorry kid, NERV emergency, he has to come with us." The Major replied stepping forward.

"Iss Okay, I fink you shoul' find a shelter." Shinji said looking back at the class rep and the school nurse. Shinji reached back and patted the class rep on the shoulder and shakily began walking towards the Major again. Temuera walked towards him and helped him along heading towards the rear entrance of the school.

"Good lord kid what happened to you?" Temuera asked in amazement. As one of the Section-2 agents in front of them opened the door.

"Oh thiss?" Shinji asked pointing towards his swollen and bloodied face. "Apfarently I fell down teh eass ssairwell." He said motioning drunkenly towards the east side of the school. "But I juss kinda wemember a big guy hittin me in teh facce."

Temuera whistled, while motioning for one of the agents to open the backdoor to the black sedan that was waiting for them. Temuera gently helped Shinji into the back seat while Rei got in on the other side with one of the agents. The second agent began walking towards the driver's side door before Temuera noticed.

"'Ey what do you think your doin?" He asked in a reproachful voice. The agent looked around seeking help from his partner who just looked at him and shook his head before entering the car.

He drooped his head in disappointment before mumbling "Sorry sir." And walking around to the passenger door.

"That's right, I drive." Temuera said with a grin watching the agent walk all the way around the car while spinning the keys around on his index finger.

Temuera stepped into the car checking his rearview mirror, he saw the agent frantically trying to put his seat belt on while Rei put Shinji's on for him then clasped her own in place. Temuera grinned once again before turning the engine on and looking at the agent sitting next to him, who had his left hand firmly planted on the dashboard, his right hand grasping the safety handle, and his foot already stomping on his imaginary break.

"You're not still worried from the drive over here are you?" Temuera asked the agent.

"Uh, n-no sir." The agent responded obviously lying.

"Good." Temuera replied simply before slamming the gas peddle all the way down and spinning the car one hundred and eighty degrees around towards the exit. Temuera reached up to a lapel on his collar and pushed it, activating his comm-bead.

"Children recovered, returning to base, have a car-train ready at entrance 34 east." He said before pushing the small button again, not waiting for a response. All of the occupants of the car swayed from left to right in time with the turns and cringed regularly as a turn was taken too sharply or a vehicle passed to closely… in their opinions.

After several minutes of near hysterical terror the occupants were relieved to arrive at the NERV entrance, the guards waving them by and closing a thick metal blast door behind them. Shinji stared out the window of the car watching the red lights pass by as the car-train rushed down towards the Geofront. Temuera nervously drummed on the dashboard, apparently moving fast wasn't as fun when he wasn't in control. The train reached the inner dome of the Geofront, no more lights to stare at, but Shinji continued to stare out the window. Rei took note and finally asked a question.

"Ikari are you okay?" She asked with a near inaudible amount of concern in her voice, as she shook his shoulder slightly.

Shinji seemed to be shaken out of his trance quickly before noticing her. "Uh, yeah I guess I'm okay. Jus' finking" Shinji responded absentmindedly and continued to stare out the window.

Rei stared at him for a few more seconds waiting for him to continue before becoming slightly annoyed and speaking once more. "What are you thinking about Ikari?" she asked, annoyance melding with her concern.

"Well, I guess, I don' know. I'm finking about that guy; he just beat the living cwap out of me, now I'm 'bout to go and fight an alien bent on destroying him and everyone else on this planet. All jus' seems kinda iwonic." Shinji spoke through his swollen mouth.

"Will you be able to fight?" Rei asked with her head cocked to the side slightly, kind of like a bird Shinji noted.

"Yeah, yeah I'll be able to fight, I am kinda scared though. Rei, can I ask you something?" Shinji said his voice quavering slightly.

"Yes Ikari?" Rei responded. Shinji leaned towards her and cupped his hand to her ear whispering so none of the others in the car could hear. Rei's eyes widened as Shinji asked his question and then returned to their usual indifferent stare. She responded simply with "Yes" before holding her left hand out for him to take, just below the peripheral vision of the agent sitting next to her. Shinji smiled sadly before taking the hand she had offered and leaned his head back against the window. Shinji had never held a girls hand before; he wasn't even sure why he had asked her to hold his hand. He guessed he just needed some human contact before he was sent out to possibly die.

Rei didn't close her hand around Shinji's; she just let it sit in her open palm while he wrapped his hand around hers. Her hand was cold, somewhat clammy and felt a little sweaty, but Shinji enjoyed it none the less. A bead of sweat rolled down Rei's neck, she cursed herself for feeling as anxious as she did, come to think of it she didn't understand what she felt.

_**Approximately 25 minutes later**_

Shinji stood in an approximation of a military stance he had picked up from Lanhardt in front of Ritsuko, Misato, Major Morston, Lanhardt, his father, and the bridge crew. A topographic map was displayed on the ground between them showing Tokyo-3, Misato stepped forward onto the map. "We believe the Angel will be arriving from the east mountain range, most of the JSSDF units there are anti-aircraft units, but don't count on them to do more than piss the angel off even more. You will be moved to an ambush site towards the east mountain range, during the ambush we will analyze its offensive and defensive capabilities and then decide whether you are to engage directly or retreat and plot a new strategy." Misato said pointing to each location of engagement as it light up red on the map.

Commander Ikari spoke next. "Major, Captain, what have you decided for weapons load out?" he asked in a calm and controlled manor. Both Lanhardt and Temuera stepped forward. "We believe the standard load out consisting of the pellet rifle and progressive knife will be best until the target is analyzed, afterwards we can withdraw the Eva and equip it with mission specific equipment." Lanhardt said in a strong voice, not betraying the worry he was concealing. He had refused to sit in a wheelchair during a battle and still looked a little unsteady on his feet, Ritsuko had cleared him for bridge duty but claimed combat duty was still out of the question. The Commander only nodded in response, seeming satisfied with the solution.

"The ball is in motion. Pilot Ikari get to the Eva now and wait for instruction to launch." He ordered as Shinji immediately turned and jogged towards the Eva cages. Shinji jogged down the hallway, the occasional technician or two cheering him on or wishing him good luck. About two and a half minutes later Shinji arrived at his Eva panting lightly. The techs rushed him through the Eva cages and towards the entry plug.

Shinji sat in the entry plug waiting for it to be inserted into the Eva, the plug shot forward into the Eva jamming Shinji back into his seat. As soon as the plug was fully inserted into the Eva the light was cut out. He leaned forward and began cradling himself. "God grant me strength." He began whispering repeatedly rocking back and forth as the LCL began filling the entry plug. A small light clicked on casting the inside of the entry plug into a dull orange light. Shinji's stomach lurched as the smell of LCL reached his nose, the smell of blood, coppery and catching at the back of his throat. The entry plug went through a myriad of colors as neural connections were set up to the pilot and visual links established.

"Eva online, all systems in the green." Maya exclaimed as her computer showed diagnostic reports from the Eva. Lanhardt looked at Misato who had only stopped biting her fingernails when Maya spoke.

Shinji continued rocking back and forth as he felt the bile in his stomach begin to rise again, three times in a row he had managed to swallow it. An image popped up next to where his head would be if he was sitting up. "Shinji? Can you hear me?" Misato asked through the video link. "Is he alright?" she whispered to Maya on the side who had switched over to pilot diagnostics.

"Pilot life signs are within safety parameters, heart function and oxygen intakes are above normal as well as psychograph readings." Maya checked off as the life signs she read slowly increased. "What does that mean?" Misato asked harshly.

"It means he's scared." Ritsuko, Lanhardt, Temuera, and Maya all responded in unison, looking at each other with a raised eyebrow before shrugging and going about their duties.

Shinji's whispered prayers had degraded into an incoherent babble as he continued to rock back and forth. The smell of the LCL mixed with the anxiety of battle and possible death threatened to overtake him. Shinji attempted to cover his mouth with his hands as his stomach attempted to empty itself once again, but it didn't matter this time as the contents of his stomach were emptied into the entry plug. The vomit floated in front of him drifting lazily through the entry plug towards one of the many filters.

"Uh-oh." Maya gasped before typing a command into her computer activating the filtration systems inside the Eva. Misato was over her shoulder once again. "Uh-oh what? What's with the uh-oh?" Misato questioned frantically trying to make sense of the data scrolling by on the computer screen. "He just vomited inside the entry plug; I'm activating the filtration system now." Maya responded while continuing to type on the computer.

Shinji watched as his vomit was rapidly sucked out of the entry plug through the filter it had been drifting towards. He sat up straight placing his hands on the controls of the Eva, it felt like all the fear and anxiety had left him along with his half digested lunch, he was mentally prepared. Now only a sense of readiness and duty filled him. _Protect the innocent; protect Ayanami _he repeated in his head

"Shinji did you just puke? Are you okay?" Misato asked, her voice worried. "Yeah, yeah I did. But I'm okay Misato." Shinji responded continuing to look forward, his face an unreadable mask, Misato couldn't tell if he was afraid or prepared. "Alright, you need to be ready to launch at a moments notice, the target is still about an hour and a half away moving at current speeds, but we don't know if it's traveling at full speed or not. Be prepared to move to the ambush site within fifteen minutes.

About half an hour later Shinji continued sitting in his Eva, only now at the ambush site. The ambush site was cleverly set up, placing the Eva in a launch elevator that was raised nearly to the surface exposing the Eva's upper body and the rifle that the giant machine had already shouldered in a firing position. Combat personnel had just finished placing a large camouflage net over it, giving it the appearance of a low hill. With all the work done now they only had to play the waiting game, and Lanhardt of all people knew that was the hardest part.

"Alright Shinji repeat the battle plan to me one more time." Lanhardt ordered once again, doing his best to keep Shinji's mind from wandering before the battle. "I will wait until the target passes my position, as soon as it enters the fire zone I will engage it at range with the pellet rifle. Command will analyze its reaction and base a strategy upon that, deciding whether I should engage the angel or retreat and refit with appropriate weapons." Shinji said repeating the battle plan word for word from what Lanhardt said. Lanhardt was happy to note that Shinji's voice seemed strong.

"Good Shinji, keep going over that in your head. If you need any further elaboration ask Major Morston. I'll be back on the line in awhile I just need to take care of something real quick." Lanhardt told Shinji as he forced a smile over the video link. "Alright, thanks Evan… just please be here when it comes." Shinji responded pleadingly. Lanhardt glanced away from the camera to prevent Shinji from seeing the pained expression on his face. "I will kid, don't worry I will."

Lanhardt shut off the video link and immediately turned around and walked towards the commander's platform. He stood up as straight as he could, "Sir, May I be excused for a moment?" Lanhardt asked briskly, his voice cracking mid-sentence. Lanhardt's mind berated him for showing emotion like he had just done. The Commander looked down at him with cold eyes before nodding. "You have ten minutes Captain." The Commander decided dismissing him with a slight wave of his hand.

Lanhardt nodded and turned to begin walking towards the exit. Temuera reached up and grasped his shoulder and squeezed it lightly as he walked past him. "You alright Evan? Keep it together alright?" Temuera said in a soothing voice. Lanhardt only nodded and continued to walk. As soon as he had rounded the corner the Commander stood up. "Lieutenant Ibuki!" He barked harshly, Maya jumped in her seat before turning towards the Commander. "Go and keep an eye on the Captain please." He ordered, the please doing nothing to make it seem friendly. "Yes sir!" She replied before standing up and scampering after Lanhardt.

As soon as Lanhardt left the command center he found the nearest bathroom and roughly shoved the door open, walking quickly into one of the many stalls and slamming the door behind him. As soon as the stall door was shut he fell to his knees, commencing to violently expel his stomach into the ceramic bowl. He failed to hear the knock on the door and the subsequent creak as it opened. He continued to vomit, sobbing the whole time until it downgraded to only dry heaves.

"Captain?" A voice asked from outside of the stall causing Lanhardt to panic and begin standing up smoothing his uniform out. He flushed the toilet before responding, "Yeah?" he opened the door and walked quickly to the sink and began washing his face, scrubbing it roughly with his hands. "A-Are you okay Captain?" The voice asked. Lanhardt stopped washing his face for a moment to look up; Maya was standing near the door, a hand over her mouth with a shocked expression on her face.

"No, but I'll manage." Lanhardt said before he went back to washing his face. "What's wrong?" Maya gasped taking a cautious step towards him. Lanhardt began rolling up his sleeves, and looked down at his arms. "He shouldn't have to fight, nobody should have to." Lanhardt spoke softly. "Especially not a child." He added in a whisper. Maya walked up to see why Lanhardt was staring so intently at his arms only to gasp once again at the scarred and knotted skin covering his arms. He looked up at Maya pleadingly, "I would be out there instead of him if I could, you know that right?" Lanhardt stated guiltily. Maya only nodded in response. Lanhardt looked at Maya and realized she was staring at his arms before rolling his sleeves back down quickly.

Maya stepped forward realizing she might have upset him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare." She apologized. Lanhardt looked at her with a friendly smile on his face. "It's alright, I'm not ashamed of them, I just think they're ugly. If I could I'd get rid of them all" Lanhardt explained to her. "Oh, h-how, um how did you get all of them if you don't mind me asking?" Maya questioned cautiously. Lanhardt looked into the mirror again before responding, "Fighting, all of them from fighting. All over the world." Someone cleared their throat from the doorway, both Lanhardt and Maya turning to see who it was. Misato and Ritsuko were both standing in the doorway looking around awkwardly. Ritsuko was the first to speak, "Fighting, or protecting others Captain Lanhardt?" Ritsuko asked with a little more compassion in her voice than normal. Lanhardt looked up and nodded his smile growing. "Oh, Doctor, Captain, what are you two doing here?" Maya asked politely. "The Angel has increased speed and will be here sooner than we expected, I was sent to find you two and bring you back to the bridge, Misato just kinda tagged along." Ritsuko answered for the both of them. "wait a second, why did you all just walk in here so bravely? I know I'd be terrified to go into the woman's bathroom" Lanhardt asked. Misato giggled slightly, "Uh Evan this is the Women's bathroom." She responded, Maya and Ritsuko joining in giggling. Lanhardt looked around with terror in his eyes before jumping and running towards the door, all of the women following him.

Outside of the bathroom Lanhardt began panting and holding his chest. "I'm so sorry; I was in such a rush I walked into the wrong bathroom." He tried to explain. "No big deal." Misato said, dismissing it with a wave of her hand. She looked at Lanhardt with an eyebrow raised. "Did you really mean what you said about those scars?" She asked slightly disappointed. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be, if I could get rid of them I would." Lanhardt answered confusedly. "Because chicks dig scars." Misato giggled, Ritsuko slapped her forehead with her palm while Maya simply rolled her eyes. "Let's just get back to the comman-." Lanhardt began to say but was interrupted by a blaring siren signaling the arrival of the angel. "Aww crap." He said before turning to run towards the bridge.


End file.
